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Matisse: The Dance
This detailed study of a single phase of Matisse's career, focuses on his work "The Dance". In 1930 he was commissioned to create a mural for the main gallery of the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania. In this book, Jack Flam pieces together the story behind its several versions.
Hardcover
First published September 1, 1994
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August 27, 2014
This book covers in great detail the story of Matisse's creation of a great mural of dancing figures for a commission to fill a space in a museum - actually, three great murals, because he twice had to totally change direction as he was working, and all three versions were preserved. It was published to accompany an exhibition of all three versions displayed together for the first time.
As a really detailed narrative of the process of creation by an artist who was already considered great - as mediated by the inevitability of money, payment, and satisfying a patron - I found this fascinating. Unfortunately, it didn't make me like Matisse or his art any more. And I came into it not being very fond of the dance mural as a piece of art; the more I learned about it - and read this author's thoughts on it - the less I liked it. I also would have loved a better discussion of Matisse's relationship with his patron - I got the impression the author was trying to work it into a standard narrative of artist and patron, but it kept trying to be more real than that.
As a really detailed narrative of the process of creation by an artist who was already considered great - as mediated by the inevitability of money, payment, and satisfying a patron - I found this fascinating. Unfortunately, it didn't make me like Matisse or his art any more. And I came into it not being very fond of the dance mural as a piece of art; the more I learned about it - and read this author's thoughts on it - the less I liked it. I also would have loved a better discussion of Matisse's relationship with his patron - I got the impression the author was trying to work it into a standard narrative of artist and patron, but it kept trying to be more real than that.
Displaying 1 of 1 review