Product Description

In this astounding book (winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year 2005) Hilary Spurling's fascinating exploration of Matisse's world uncovers the secret life of the artist, whose paintings shocked and infuriated his contemporaries while paving the way for modern art. This beautifully presented second volume tells the story of Matisse's growing artistic maturity and the relationship between his life and art from 1909 to 1954, his glory years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134769 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Synopsis
In this astounding book (winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year 2005) Hilary Spurling's fascinating exploration of Matisse's world uncovers the secret life of the artist, whose paintings shocked and infuriated his contemporaries while paving the way for modern art. This beautifully presented second volume tells the story of Matisse's growing artistic maturity and the relationship between his life and art from 1909 to 1954, his glory years.

About the Author
Hilary Spurling is a prize-winning biographer whose books include Ivy: The Life of Ivy Compton-Burnett, Paul Scott, La Grande Therese and The Girl from the Fiction Department, as well as The Unknown Matisse. She is a regular book reviewer for the Observer and The Daily Telegraph and lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Is the author a matisse groupie
Having earlier read part 1 of this 2 book publication. The overall impression it gave me was where does fiction begin and end in a biography. The author carries on giving details that it would be impossible to know.Even if one lived with the subject, and then would one would not know his thoughts, which the author presumes to know. Padded out with too much fiction to be taken seriously. A big disapointment.

In living colour...
The life of Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse is a remarkable one - author Hilary Sprung has spent years in careful and caring research to bring to life in pages this master of painting. Matisse is one of the giants of modern art; Picasso long considered him is only true rival. As the title of this volume indicates (volume 2 of a set, the first one published a few years ago dealing with the first 40 years of Matisse's life), he is noted for bold and original use of colour in his paintings. His influences include Van Gogh, Gaugain and Cézanne, so how could he not be so directed?

In a time when the world's attention is focused upon New Orleans, it is worthwhile to mention Matisse's own connection, with his work 'Jazz', a title inspired by the improvisational, free-and-easy style that Jazz musicians performed in response to the world around them. This was done during a period of severe illness, and Matisse used a collage method for this work because he was too weak to paint.

This volume follows Matisse from his maturity as an artist to the time of his death. The decline of the Fauvist movement did not hurt Matisse, whose productivity continued in Paris and the Riviera. Spurling includes his artistic life, his personal and family life, as well as his relationships with other artists and professionals in her sweeping narrative.

Spurling had generous access to Matisse's letters and private papers - he devoted nearly an hour a day at some points in his life to carrying on correspondence, and much of this has been preserved. Spurling also conducted countless hours of interviews with people, and was able to bring this large mass of material together in an entertaining and inspiring way. Matisse himself once commented that if the truth of his life were written down, it would astonish people, and this biography helps to validate that claim.

There are beautiful colour plates here, in addition to well over a hundred black-and-white images scattered throughout the text. If I had one wish for this two-volume set, it would be the inclusion of more colour - there is something ironic and a bit depressing to see Matisse in black and white!

A glorious book.

In living colour...
The life of Henri-Émile-Benoît Matisse is a remarkable one - author Hilary Sprung has spent years in careful and caring research to bring to life in pages this master of painting. Matisse is one of the giants of modern art; Picasso long considered him is only true rival. As the title of this volume indicates (volume 2 of a set, the first one published a few years ago dealing with the first 40 years of Matisse's life), he is noted for bold and original use of colour in his paintings. His influences include Van Gogh, Gaugain and Cézanne, so how could he not be so directed?

In a time when the world's attention is focused upon New Orleans, it is worthwhile to mention Matisse's own connection, with his work 'Jazz', a title inspired by the improvisational, free-and-easy style that Jazz musicians performed in response to the world around them. This was done during a period of severe illness, and Matisse used a collage method for this work because he was too weak to paint.

This volume follows Matisse from his maturity as an artist to the time of his death. The decline of the Fauvist movement did not hurt Matisse, whose productivity continued in Paris and the Riviera. Spurling includes his artistic life, his personal and family life, as well as his relationships with other artists and professionals in her sweeping narrative.

Spurling had generous access to Matisse's letters and private papers - he devoted nearly an hour a day at some points in his life to carrying on correspondence, and much of this has been preserved. Spurling also conducted countless hours of interviews with people, and was able to bring this large mass of material together in an entertaining and inspiring way. Matisse himself once commented that if the truth of his life were written down, it would astonish people, and this biography helps to validate that claim.

There are beautiful colour plates here, in addition to well over a hundred black-and-white images scattered throughout the text. If I had one wish for this two-volume set, it would be the inclusion of more colour - there is something ironic and a bit depressing to see Matisse in black and white!

A glorious book.