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Matisse. Cut-Outs
Contributor(s): Néret, Gilles (Author)
ISBN: 3836534274     ISBN-13: 9783836534277
Publisher: Taschen
OUR PRICE:   $18.00  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: December 2016
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Art | History - Modern (late 19th Century To 1945)
- Art | European
- Art | Individual Artists - Monographs
Dewey: 709.2
Physical Information: 0.7" H x 8.2" W x 10.3" (1.25 lbs) 96 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1851-1899
- Chronological Period - 20th Century
- Cultural Region - French
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was a fighting spirit. Despite a cancer diagnosis in 1941, increasing frailty, and the confines of a wheelchair, the indomitable Frenchman never stopped in his quest to make art. With what he called une seconde vie, a second life, he embarked on a remarkable collage period, cutting and pasting pieces of colored paper into gouaches d coup es of birds, plants, flowers, and the female form.

Emphasizing color and contrast, the cut-out technique generated both striking lines and vivid juxtapositions. In works such as Icarus (1943), The Blue Nude (1952), The Snail (1953), and The Sheaf (1953), clean forms and elemental structures power a compositional force that belies the work's decorative appeal, at once tightly organized and infectious with joie de vivre. As his work progressed, Matisse's excitement with his results fueled ever-larger pieces, advancing from small works to vast wall-sized murals.

As his final years approached, Matisse reveled in the simplicity and brilliance of these pieces, avowing, "Only what I created after the illness constitutes my real self: free, liberated..." In this essential introductory book, we revisit this joyful final chapter of Matisse's long and prodigious career, examining how the cut-outs encapsulated the artist's many years exploring the possibilities of composition, form, and color.

About the series

Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Art series features:

a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance

a concise biography

approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions


Contributor Bio(s): Neret, Gilles: - Gilles Néret (1933-2005) 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 Élie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. His TASCHEN titles include Salvador Dalí The Paintings, Matisse, and Erotica Universalis.