Henri Matisse

by Gilles Néret

The extraordinary significance of the painter and sculptor Henri Matisse in the history of modern art, but also his influence, was no less decisive than that of his main rival, Pablo Picasso. In fact, Matisse's stylistic liberation actually goes one step further in the pursuit of his own personal goal - the perfect synthesis of line and color - by which he sought revolutionary approaches to the great tradition of French painting by drawing upon its classical aspects. For those who wish to know more about this lodestar of modern art and follow the adventurous path of his creative career, this publication is surely the most comprehensive and informative source available. Lavishly illustrated, its authoritative commentaries trace the artist's search for balance, purity and serenity, from the chromatic brilliance of his Fauve period, through his travels, the Orient, geometric synthesis (it was he who introduced Picasso to African art by giving him his first mask), and the odalisques to the final triumph when, at the age of eighty, he invented his gouache cut-outs that culminated in his illustrations for Jazz and allowed him to achieve his goal of sculpting in paint just as a sculptor works in stone. Matisse is widely acknowledged as an artist whose canvases are extremely difficult to reproduce in print. With this in mind, each work presented here has been painstakingly compared with the respective original, in close collaboration with the artist's grandson, Claude Duthuit. The bard of color deserves no less.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 1996

About the author

Gilles Néret (1933 - August 3, 2005) was a French art critic and historian, journalist and curator. He wrote extensively on the history of erotica.

He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L’Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Since 1992, Néret was an editor for Taschen, for which he has written catalogues raisonnés of the works of Klimt and others, as well as the author of Erotica Universalis.

Reviews

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book (ISBN: 9783822850206) which is part of the Tauschen 25th Anniversary Special Editions, is quite different, and far far better than Essers' little volume. It is hardbound, by inexpensive. This book has over 250 pages of beautiful prints, many of which I've never seen before - from private collections, and so forth -- some of which I can't find on-line. There is a paperback listed for this volume on Amazon, but I think it may be Essers'. At any rate, it's really given me an appreciation of Matisse.

[Juan Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

La paleta de colores y la simplificación de las formas en Matisse generan sensaciones sublimes. Sus obras, la alegría de vivir, danza, retrato de Ivonne Landsberg, la blusa rumana y la capilla y muchas otras... Son geniales

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

good art read

[Kelsey Redding · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s nice how much of his work is included in this and referenced directly in the text, but the writing is redundant and dry.

[Lyle Bernstein-Kevorkian · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic prints

[Cameron Toney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice overview of Matisse, both his life and his work, with a specific interest in those who influenced him, and those he influenced.
And, of course, lots and lots of gorgeous pictures!

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The work of Matisse is like a hymn dedicated to the voluptuous color.

[Zanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is an outstanding art book, and it certainly increased my love for the joyous, fluent, form-breaking work of Matisse.

[Kaylee]

Written in an awful art critic dialect. I skimmed the text and enjoyed the pictures.