Henri Matisse (Taschen Basic Art Series) [Hardcover]

Gilles Neret (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2006 | Series: Taschen Basic Art Series

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, Pablo Picasso. 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, purity and 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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gilles Neret was an art historian, journalist, writer, and museum correspondent. He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L'Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Neret is the editor of TASCHEN'S catalogues raisonnes of the works of Monet and Velazquez, as well as the author of Dali The Paintings and Erotica Universalis. He died on August 3, 2005.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; 25th edition (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822850209
• ISBN-13: 978-3822850206
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good book with accurate color, January 11, 2001

By 

Jim Wang (Holmdel, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matisse (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book. The color seems very accurate. There are many artbooks with inaccurate color reproduced. I compared several photos in this book with the real Matisse's paintings, the color is all accurate.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Matisse, July 22, 2005

By 

T. Nokes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matisse (Hardcover)

Pretty good book. I used it for an essay at school and it provided some valuable information and was my primary source. I thought it was a little quote heavy, as half the book is quotes from Matisse or art critics. Some are valuable, but others are just useless fluff. For example, in the begining there is a page long paragraph devoted to why everyone called Matisse a "doctor" and a hedonist or something. It bears no significance to what Matisse did.

I also wish that the book would have talked more extensively about his impact and effects on art. The book says some but the information isn't really centralized and its sort of here and there throughout the book. I wish there would have been a couple pages at the end or something about it.

Otherwise there is a lot of pictures and they're all real good quality. Also had pretty good analysis of some of his paintings, like their meanings and compositional elements that make it great etc... It also covers his entire life, before Fauvism to paper collages. I recommend it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoying this volume tremendously, January 16, 2011

By 

Amber (Tennessee) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Henri Matisse (Taschen Basic Art Series) (Hardcover)

Wonderful numerous color plates. It is the perfect introduction to Matisse as well as a good contribution to a more advanced library. The text is not overwhelming or too technical for the average art buff, but it also contains good material for an art student or more serious collector. Good value for the money and well-done publication. I especially like the inclusion of many drawings and the large size of many plates.