From Publishers Weekly
This massive and exhaustive study, generally considered to be the major work on the artist, was originally published in 1984, and has been out of print for 10 years. With 880 illustrations (230 in color) and a new preface, the volume arrives in time for the blockbuster Matisse-Picasso exhibit, currently hanging in Paris and opening in New York in February 2003. While the book has not been re-set, and its newspaper column-like typestting looks boxy and old-fashioned in the age of Quark and Photoshop, the font and lay-out seem appropriate to this book's old-school "appreciation" approach-Schneider starts with particular works, and lets them guide his observations about Matisse's life, surroundings, and ways of working. The result-17 years in preparation, weighing in at 8 1/2 pounds-brings Matisse (1869-1954) and his work into focus with energy and a non-intrusive judiciousness, from early still lives to the stark near color-field-like work of The Conversation (1911) and The Piano Lesson (1916) to the late paper cut-outs including Acrobats (1952). The book's original preface explains Schneider's own working methods (Schneider's new preface is mostly concerned with correcting his earlier version of Matisse's turn to his late style), but it can't quite account for the depth of understanding he is able to convey throughout. Those with serious Matisse fixations will have to pry open their wallets for this one, as it remains essential. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"This mammoth book will be read as long as people are interested in Matisse, which is to say forever."--The New York Times Book Review



Review
"This mammoth book will be read as long as people are interested in Matisse, which is to say forever."--The New York Times Book Review



Book Description
"...to devote my life to the essential thing-- the thing for which I am made and which can bring a little happiness to the great family, the greatest spiritual family."--Matisse to André Rouveyre, September 4, 1942

Of all the artists of this century, Henri Matisse is one of the greatest and most beloved. His influence on modern art, both during his lifetime and today, has never stopped growing; in the eyes of the world, he is the French painter par excellence.

Henri Matisse is all the more cherished because his work celebrates the positive aspects of life, as evidenced by the titles of many of his major paintings: Luxe, Calme et Volupté, La Joie de Vivre, La Danse, Musique, to mention but a few. His explosions and juxtapositions of color and pattern inspire pure delight in the beholder, and his mastery of line, volume, and form are perhaps unequaled in the art of our time. The vitality, energy, and life-enhancing qualities that radiate from his art represent distillation of all that is affirmative in the human condition and are given immortality through that rare and indefinable quality known as genius.

The art of Matisse describes a trajectory leading from realism to abstraction, from darkness to light, from the cold of the north to the heat of the south, a route marked off by such revolutionary innovations as the burst of color found in Fauvism or the invention of his cut-outs. Matisse was still creating at a time in his life when many artists are content to rest on their laurels.

Since its original publication in 1984, this book by Pierre Schneider stands alone as the bible on the art of Matisse. The author spent fourteen years amassing a prodigious amount of information on the artist, and includes his own personal and original views on the work. Including over nine hundred illustrations, this is the most substantial reference of the works of Matisse ever published.

The reader will discover Matisse watercolorist, draftsman, ceramist, and the architect-- and unquestionably one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century.



Language Notes
Text: English, French (translation)


About the Author
Pierre Schneider dedicated fourteen years to the creation of his magisterial study of Matisse and his work. He is widely regarded as the world's leading expert on the artist.

After collaborating on Temps Modernes of Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Critique of Georges Bataille, and Cahiers du Sud, Schneider worked with the critic and art historian Georges Duthuit, son-in-law of Matisse, for approximately ten years.

Author of numerous works on aesthetics and the history of art, Schneider also contributed regularly to such important journals as Artnews, Art in America, Vogue, Encounter, and the Burlington Magazine. He has been the advisor and organizer of large Matisse exhibitions, most notably the Matisse Centennial Exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1970.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Rizzoli is proud to bring back into print this classic book on Henri Matisse, originally published in 1984. French critic Pierre Schneider's life work on France's most esteemed twentieth-century artist became an instant success when first published, its first edition selling out in four weeks. This bible on the artist has received the following praise:

"This mammoth book will be read as long as people are interested in Matisse, which is to say forever." -New York Times Book Review

"An important and beautiful book." -The Atlantic

"The book was 14 years in preparation and not a minute was wasted." -Time

"One of this century's greatest artist is beautifully illuminated in this majestic new book," -Vogue

Author Biography: Pierre Schneider has long been considered the world's leading expert on Matisse. Author of numerous works on aesthetics and the history of art, Schneider has been a regular contributor to such important journals as Artnews and Art in America.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This massive and exhaustive study, generally considered to be the major work on the artist, was originally published in 1984, and has been out of print for 10 years. With 880 illustrations (230 in color) and a new preface, the volume arrives in time for the blockbuster Matisse-Picasso exhibit, currently hanging in Paris and opening in New York in February 2003. While the book has not been re-set, and its newspaper column-like typestting looks boxy and old-fashioned in the age of Quark and Photoshop, the font and lay-out seem appropriate to this book's old-school "appreciation" approach-Schneider starts with particular works, and lets them guide his observations about Matisse's life, surroundings, and ways of working. The result-17 years in preparation, weighing in at 8 1/2 pounds-brings Matisse (1869-1954) and his work into focus with energy and a non-intrusive judiciousness, from early still lives to the stark near color-field-like work of The Conversation (1911) and The Piano Lesson (1916) to the late paper cut-outs including Acrobats (1952). The book's original preface explains Schneider's own working methods (Schneider's new preface is mostly concerned with correcting his earlier version of Matisse's turn to his late style), but it can't quite account for the depth of understanding he is able to convey throughout. Those with serious Matisse fixations will have to pry open their wallets for this one, as it remains essential. (Nov. 29) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

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