The Drawings of Henri Matisse

by John Elderfield, Arts Council of Great Britain

Unread. clean, unmarked pages. From the shelf of a notable collectoer.

Paperback

First published May 1, 1985

About the author

John Elderfield (25 April 1943 - ) was Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, from 2003 to 2008.

Elderfield studied the history of art at the University of Manchester and the University of Leeds. He received his PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1975.

Elderfield received the award of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres from the French Government.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book, matisse has some very similar techniques to me so it’s interesting to see where they’ve derived from. I never realized he barely associated himself with cubism despite their timelines being so aligned. Or that his lines aim for emotion, funnily enough i always assumed his work was based on efficiency and an attempt to achieve the figure with the slightest but most comprehensive lines. Turns out he’s embracing anti naturalism through evoking childlike emotion! Although it makes sense seeing that there isn’t much of a definition between his life and his work, dude had drawings on his bedroom walls

[Ric Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elderfield’s essay is one of the most astute bits of writing on the art of drawing - an important book on my library