Matisse
A color harmony that is analogous to a musical composition
Henri Matisse (1869-1954) is known not only as one of the most important French painters of the 20th century but also as co-founder and leading exponent of Fauvism. His work reflects an ongoing quest for the expressive power of pure, brilliant colors and simple forms; as a result, the realistic presentation of nature often retires to a secondary position.
For Matisse, color did not serve as a tool for the expression of subjective feelings, but rather became the equivalent of light itself: it functioned as a pure medium in the creation of an autonomous pictorial space: "Out of my fruitful work with discovered tones there must emerge a vital color harmony, a harmony that is analogous to a musical composition."
As a creative artist, Matisse was not only a painter, but also experimented with other materials: he produced glass windows and theatre designs and created significant sculptures in bronze, ceramic and clay. In old age, confined to a wheelchair, he created collages with coloured paper, glue, and scissors: his famed gouache cut-outs.
About the Series:
Every book in TASCHEN's Basic Art Series features:
- a detailed chronological summary of the artist's life and work, covering the cultural and historical importance of the artist
- approximately 100 color illustrations with explanatory captions
- a concise biography
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Matisse
Essers, Volkmar
Softcover, flaps, 18.5 x 23 cm (7.3 x 9.1 in.), 96 pages $ 9.99 |
- Reviews (2 items)
"Two first rate offerings about Hopper and Matisse. Handsomely presented, they look like coffee-table numbers: big, glossy, hard backed and not nearly as vacuous as some other coffee-table tomes. But the really astonishing thing is the price. They're £6.99 each. Packed with illustrations, the colour reproduction looks pretty good, and there's a well-documented text."
Artists & Illustrators, London, United Kingdom
Artists & Illustrators, London, United Kingdom
- See also (9 items)
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Henri Matisse, Cut-outs. Drawing With Scissors, 2 Vol. This two-volume edition includes a perfect facsimile of Matisse's seminal cut-out work: Jazz, the legendary album of twenty color prints with calligraphic text, recognized as a masterpiece among artist books of the 20th century. |
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 TASCHEN 25 - Special edition! "A pleasurable introduction to Matisse's work, while its wealth of illustrations will make it a worthy reference book to add to the more serious library." - The Art Book, United Kingdom |
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Calder Calder's life and work, including his lesser known pieces, examined and analysed in detail |