Matisse In 50 Works

This enthralling and comprehensive new book on Henri Matisse provides a fresh perspective for all students and art lovers interested in early twentieth-century art. Taking fifty of Matisse's most iconic works of art, expert John Cauman presents an accessible narrative about the man and his work, deciphering the themes, methods, and intentions of this truly great artist. Each painting, drawing, and mural is described and analyzed in specific detail, within the context of the period, so that the reader can truly understand what the artist was hoping to achieve with each work. Chronologically spanning from the late nineteenth century to the mid-1950s, the paintings are prefaced by an informative introduction that presents the milieu and key characters that featured in Matisse's life. Among his most famous works, this book includes Luxe, calme et volupté, Le Bonheur de vivre (The Joy of Life), Self-Portrait in a Striped Shirt, Blue Nude (Memory of Biskra), Bathers by a River, Harmony in Red, Dance I, Entrance to the Casbah, Pianist and Checker Players, Still Life with a Magnolia, Memory of Oceania, and The Snail.

Invites young readers to touch twentieth-century paintings, including Matisse's "Goldfish," Grant Wood's "American Gothic," and Chagall's "Birthday." On board pages.

"Recounts the publication history of nearly fifty books illustrated by Henri Matisse, including Lettres portugaises, Mallarmae's Poaesies, and Matisse's own Jazz. Explores his illustration methods, typographic precepts, literary sensibilities, and opinions about the role of the artist in the publication process"--Provided by publisher.

171 paintings concentrated on works produced by Henri Matisse during the 1920s, when he lived in the South of France.

"Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Exhibition dates: the Art Institute of Chicago, March 20, 2010 to June 20, 2010; the Museum of Modern Art, July 18, 2010 to October 11, 2010"--T.p. verso.

Henri Matisse by Alastair Sooke - an essential guide to one of the 20th century's greatest artists 'One January morning in 1941, only a fortnight or so after his seventy-first birthday, the bearded and bespectacled French artist Henri Matisse was lying in a hospital bed preparing to die.' Diagnosed with cancer, the acclaimed painter, and rival of Picasso, seemed to be facing his demise. Then something unexpected happened. After a life-saving operation that left him too weak to paint, and often too frail to even get out of bed, Matisse invented a ground-breaking and effortless new way of making art. The results rank among his greatest work. In an astonishing blaze of creativity, he began conjuring mesmerising designs of dazzling dancers and thrilling tightrope walkers, sensuous swimmers and mythical figures falling from the heavens. His joyful and unprecedented new works were as spontaneous as jazz music and as wondrous as crystal-clear lagoons. Their medium? Coloured paper and scissors. This book, by art critic and broadcaster Alastair Sooke, focuses on Matisse's extraordinary final decade, which he called 'a second life', after he had returned from the grave. Both a biography and a guide to Matisse's 'cut-outs', it tells the story of the valedictory flourish of one of the most important and beloved artists of the twentieth century. Published in time for a major Tate Modern retrospective. 'Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude' Sarah Vine, The Times 'His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters', Guardian Alastair Sooke is art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, The World's Most Expensive Paintings, Treasures of Ancient Rome and, most recently, Treasures of Ancient Egypt. He is a regular reporter for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He is the author of Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art was Saved by Donald Duck.

"Throughout his long career, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) continually expanded the boundaries of his art. By repeating images in pairs, trios, and series, he conducted an ongoing dialogue with his earlier works in order to, as he put it, "push further and deeper into true painting." In this fresh approach to a much-studied artist, prominent scholars from the United States and Europe examine more than sixty works in concise chapters that focus on this aspect of Matisse's working process. From early pairs such as Young Sailor I and II (1906) and Le Lexe I and II (1907-8) through a series of late studio scenes from Vence (1946-48), Matisse is shown revisiting a given theme with the aim of devising innovative, often radical, solutions to such problems as how to portray light, handle paint, select colors, and manipulate perspective. New technical studies of the early paired works and photographs documenting the evolution of his later paintings help to elucidate Matisse's complex evolution. In numerous excerpts from letters and interviews, he is revealed as an artist who regularly questioned himself and his methods, a man of powerful intellect who regarded each new painting as an adventure. A significant addition to art historical literature, Matisse: In Search of True Painting is a revelatory study of a seminal figure in 20th-century modernism."--Page 4 of cover.

Presents the life and work of Henri Matisse in the form of a child's school report, where Keesia learns that over his long career, Matisse made paintings, sculpture, books, costumes, and cut-outs. Simultaneous.