Matisse and Picasso: The Story of their Rivalry and Friendship [Hardcover]

Jack Flam (Author)

Book Description

Series: Icon Editions | Publication Date: February 4, 2003

Matisse and Picasso achieved extraordinary prominence during their lifetimes. They have become cultural icons, standing not only for different kinds of art but also for different ways of living. Matisse, known for his restraint and intense sense of privacy, for his decorum and discretion, created an art that transcended daily life and conveyed a sensuality that inhabited an abstract and ethereal realm of being. In contrast, Picasso became the exemplar of intense emotionality, of theatricality, of art as a kind of autobiographical confession that was often charged with violence and explosive eroticism. In Matisse and Picasso, Jack Flam explores the compelling, competitive, parallel lives of these two artists and their very different attitudes toward the idea of artistic greatness, toward the women they loved, and ultimately toward their confrontations with death.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Timed to coincide roughly with the opening of the blockbuster Matisse-Picasso exhibition's third and final stop, at New York's MoMA QNS (February-May), this volume examines the enmity and amity between the 20th century's two greatest painters, mostly as evidenced by their art. Despite the subtitle, Flam, who brilliantly edited Robert Smithson: The Collected Writings, is much less interested in the endlessly chronicled lives of his subjects than in the work; sentences like "When Matisse returned from Morocco that spring, he was full of turbulent emotions, and he created some of his most memorable and original works" simply serve as transitions to the next phase of work-on which Flam is terrific. In one passage, he finds the word "NON" ("a symmetrical word that asserts its negation in both directions") painted into the window grillwork between the husband-and-wife of Matisse's 1912 Conversation-a word that had been showing up in Picasso's work for the previous year. Flam locates similarly productive appropriations and reappropriations between the two painters over the years, so that anyone standing in line for the exhibition in Queens will profit from at least flipping through this direct, jargon-free study.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...an in-depth and perceptive look at the artists' friends, women, paintings, gossip, and mutual obsession. Recommended for all art collections." -- Library Journal

"Brilliantly details the strange union of this very odd couple." -- The Seattle Times

"[Flam] conveys his impressive insights without the high-flown gobbledygook that sometimes infests art criticism." -- January Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; Icon ed edition (February 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813365813
• ISBN-13: 978-0813365817
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,146,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lucid, Riviting Artist Stories, July 27, 2004

By 

Artist Barbara Garro (Barbara Garro at http://www.ElectricEnvisions.com in Saratoga Springs, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matisse and Picasso: The Story of their Rivalry and Friendship (Hardcover)

Imagine one tightly written book that can tell you what the art world was like for much of the 20th Century! Jack Flam is the man who did just that in "Matisse Picaso." Then imagine learning all about the lives of Matisse and Picasso and their loves along with their push-pull friendship and competition. After that get the skinny on the paintings both men painted. I never even saw all the -------- in Picasso's paintings. Now, it is hard to see anything else.

I found this book to be much more exciting then typical biographies that include all the boring parts of people's lives. Here you get all the interesting parts with all the boring parts left out. I read every word and recommend the book without reservation. In fact, I believe every art student needs to read this book, every artist, every art affictionado.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Juxtoposition, June 20, 2003

By 

Sergio Remon "Wushu master" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matisse and Picasso: The Story of their Rivalry and Friendship (Hardcover)

Before there was Andy Warhol, the ultimate in art cool, there was Picasso. And before there was Picasso, there was Matisse. Picasso and his cronies used to make fun of Matisse's primitive style and threw fake darts at Matisse's portrait of his daughter, and people laughed in the salons at Matisse's Joy of Life but no artist influenced Picasso more than Matisse, from his works to his introduction to African and Iberian art, Matisse was one of the few constants in Picasso's life, always keeping the paintings that he had of Matisse. These two heavyweights, more than anybody, have influenced the way we make art today. This books does a great job fleshing out the relationship between these two artists and how they affected each other in a well written and highly accesible format. An excellent book worthy of the excellent artists.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Matisse and Picasso by Flam, September 26, 2003

By 

Joseph S. Maresca "Dr. Joseph S. Maresca CPA,... (Bronxville, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Matisse and Picasso: The Story of their Rivalry and Friendship (Hardcover)

This is an excellent work for art history enthusiasts. It depicts
many famous works of art by Matisse and Picasso. Classically,
Matisse is known for the artful use of color; whereas, Picasso
is credited with the unique form of Cubism which pervades
his artwork. Flam depicts important works by both artists.
For instance, Matisse's "The Woman With The Hat" is shown in
full color. Picasso's "The Acrobat's Family" is depicted
together with "The Two Nudes". These pictures show the emotional side of Picasso's work in contradistinction to
Matisse's exercise of restraint. This book would make a
perfect gift for a friend, relative or art buff.