Matisse

by John Jacobus, Henri Matisse (Painter)

Briefly discusses the life and art of the French painter and provides commentary on his major works

Genres: Art, Art History, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

John Maxwell "Jake" Jacobus Jr. (15 September 1927 – 10 July 2017) was a Professor of Art History at Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA. He was a specialist in modern art and architecture and particularly the art of Henri Matisse.

Reviews

[Ocean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book but it's a shame that the first half of it only has reproductions in black and white, especially when Matisse relied so much on colour to express himself.
Thankfully these days, every reproduction is available online.

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 3 out of 5]

A useful review of Matisse's development and relationship to other artists and art ideas. The descriptions of the colour plates and the main text do give a view of Matisse as daily studying the artist's studio as a creation of an imaginary ideal landscape, an earthly paradise. However the prose is a bit odd, as if translated, and rather partisan towards Matisse as opposed to cubism and to Picasso. I didn't feel I gained profound insights. Jacobs did point out the use of window frames, mirrors and pictures within pictures.

[Curtis Seven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought as a discount item from Barnes and Noble it is not long is a bit oversize and hardcover which makes it a fairly good choice if you want to do some studies in graphite without visiting MOMA. Not in my opinion anything terribly new here but it does provide an inexpensive source of plates to draw from.

[Marylou · Rating 5 out of 5]

In search of Green dining room done first, then matisse decided to paint red " Harmony in Red"