Customer Reviews

Matisse on Art, Revised edition (Documents of Twentieth-Century Art)

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Here are compiled the writings of and interviews with Matísse. It is not only about his estethic concerns but also about his feeling for life. The latter was his underlying motif in his paintings. This book is very interesting also for people without artistic concerns since Matísse here conveys his fine-tuned philosophy of life. A highly rewarding book that one can return to many times.

Mats Winther

Painters are often their own worst enemies when speaking about their work, obscuring rather than enlightening. But not Matisse. The intelligent and painter knew the trap that speaking of his art could be, yet his own comments on it are intelligent and illuminating. This book is fine reading that's a help to the working painter, as well as the viewer. You'll look at Matisse's great paintings with a fresh eye after reading it. And that's what matters.

If you want to extend the boundaries of ordinary perception, in order to produce unique, distinctive visions read "Matisse on Art." It is a critical piece of literature written by a masterfully innovative painter. I recommend it as a professional artist for nearly 20 years and as an art professor.

This book is simply indispensible for any working artist. Matisse is very clear about the act of painting and its relation to reality, without fussing about. He is particularly clear about the artist's struggle with what he calls "a limited medium" -- in the aftermath of photography, cinema, etc. And of course, if you want to know anything about the deployment of colour, here is your man. The book appears to be in bits and pieces, journalistic, but there are endless gems here. And of course the seriousness of a true artist.

Painters are often their own worst enemies when speaking about their work, obscuring rather than enlightening. But not Matisse. The intelligent and painter knew the trap that speaking of his art could be, yet his own comments on it are intelligent and illuminating. This book is fine reading that's a help to the working painter, as well as the viewer. You'll look at Matisse's great paintings with a fresh eye after reading it. And that's what matters.

This is a wonderful and wise collection of the thoughts of a very brilliant and humble man. Matisse is perhaps the most coherent thinker in modern art. His sage insight into his own motivations and sources of inspiration remain essential reading for any serious artist. From his example one learns the importance of construction in art which for Matisse meant understanding the reality of the picture plane, the constructive power of color when used in opposition to each other and to push and pull optically, the function of overlap and position within the optical plane and what expression means from a graphic standpoint. Having pioneered many of the premises of modernity Matisse remained a humble appreciator of the traditions of figure painting and returned regularly to the study of the human form and landscape. It is that humble poise between past, present and future that makes Matisse a mentor for the progressive artist. Matisse was wise because he worked daily in his studio and reflected seriously on those tangible experiences. The reader of this great collection can glean all of this directly from the master himself in his own words. Also many of the interviews record details of his daily life which reveal so much about a fascinating man. William J. Havlicek PhD

This book is loaded with gems (which is why I refer to it as a fruitcake!). You can read it cover to cover, or just open it anywhere and be amazed at the verbal gems of this wonderful artist who dazzled us for many years with his fascinating and evolving work. I especially loved his description and reaction to New York City which is near where I grew up. He showed it to me with new eyes in all its beauty.

Very very worth while for those of us who are artists and teachers of art, but also to those who want to see the evolution of a life well lived.