Matisse
TASCHEN's 25th anniversary - Special edition!
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, PabloPicasso. 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, purityand 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.
About the author:
Xavier-Gilles Néret is a teacher of Philosophy in the region of Paris. Like his father Gilles Néret he is not only passionate about philosophy, but also about poetry and art. He has been working on the links which unite these disciplines, notably on Stéphane Mallarmé, about whom he has already written several articles. He is also interested in more marginal figures, such as the poet Claude Tarnaud and the artist Pascal Doury, having co-edited a book by the former and published reviews and essays on the latter.
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Matisse
Néret, Gilles
Hardcover 9.4 x 11.8 in., 256 pages, $ 14.99 |
- Reviews (1 items)
Dear Ladies, Dear Sirs,
I was curious - as always when one buys a new book - about what to get to see and read.
As is already written in the FOREWORD (standard review of TASCHEN), this book really is AN UNDISPESABLE REFERENCE FOR MODERN ART. I fully agree with that.
Now, I have also the large PICASSO and DALI from TASCHEN. For me, the work of MATISSE is more important than that of Picasso. How to explain? Matisse's work tells me - for so to speak - that the artist had "MORE ENDEAVOUR" while busy working at one of his pieces. This is something I do not find back in the works of Picasso.
WHEN I should have to make a PERSONAL comparison between the 3 "great ones", I'd probably choose SALVADOR DALI, for different reasons (book available at TASCHEN as well), very closely followed by HENRI MATISSE.
Except the fact that the issue of "MATISSE" by TASCHEN is superb (with superlatives on ALL points and details), richly decorated with paintings and other objects, written in a classy, however in very CLEAR words. Thus READABLE FOR ALL !
I am not going to spoil your appetite with details: all there is to be said here is that, for such a low price, by buying the book, you will have acquired a little jewel for ... the top of your bookshelves.
Dirk CLAEYS, Belgium
I was curious - as always when one buys a new book - about what to get to see and read.
As is already written in the FOREWORD (standard review of TASCHEN), this book really is AN UNDISPESABLE REFERENCE FOR MODERN ART. I fully agree with that.
Now, I have also the large PICASSO and DALI from TASCHEN. For me, the work of MATISSE is more important than that of Picasso. How to explain? Matisse's work tells me - for so to speak - that the artist had "MORE ENDEAVOUR" while busy working at one of his pieces. This is something I do not find back in the works of Picasso.
WHEN I should have to make a PERSONAL comparison between the 3 "great ones", I'd probably choose SALVADOR DALI, for different reasons (book available at TASCHEN as well), very closely followed by HENRI MATISSE.
Except the fact that the issue of "MATISSE" by TASCHEN is superb (with superlatives on ALL points and details), richly decorated with paintings and other objects, written in a classy, however in very CLEAR words. Thus READABLE FOR ALL !
I am not going to spoil your appetite with details: all there is to be said here is that, for such a low price, by buying the book, you will have acquired a little jewel for ... the top of your bookshelves.
Dirk CLAEYS, Belgium
- Clippings (1 items)
Big reads at small prices
Artists & Illustrators, United Kingdom, August 01, 2006
Artists & Illustrators, United Kingdom, August 01, 2006
- See also (22 items)
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Matisse An indispensable work of reference about this lodestar of modern art (reissue in a new format) |
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Chagall TASCHEN's 25th anniversary - Special edition! A complete record of Marc Chagall's dramatic life's work |
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Dalí TASCHEN's 25th anniversary - Special edition! The fantastic phenomenon that was Salvador Dalí |