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Review
'Praise for Volume One: 'Shows Spurling at her brilliant best as passionate scholar, traveller and storyteller ... lavishly illustrated and lovingly well written' Daily Telegraph Praise for Volume Two: 'An outstanding biography, as full of insights into the pictures as it is revealing about the man' Jeanette Winterson, The Times 'Destined to remain the standard biography for a long time. Spurling has done better than anyone else at uncovering intimate information about Matisse' Guardian
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Henri Matisse was one of the most important and beloved artists of the twentieth century, rivalled only by his friend - and competitor - Pablo Picasso. Hilary Spurling's The Unknown Matisse and Matisse the Master were together heralded as the definitive biography of the artist, and Matisse the Master went on to win the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 2005.
In this abridged, one-volume edition, Hilary Spurling reveals the origins of Matisse's astonishing talent, provides a unique insight into his life and work, and, by documenting the difficult path he took alone, clearly places him at the front rank of those who made art modern.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have never been much of a fan of the biographies of artists-many seem either too superficial and gossipy on the one hand or too focussed on the artworks themselves at the expense of the creator behind them on the other. This splendid book avoids these pitfalls and Hilary Spurling presents the life and work of Matisse as a convincing whole, with life and art interdependent on each other. Spurling has clearly done an enormous amount of primary research and her text has great authority as a result, but her greatest achievement is to condense all of this knowledge into a 550 page account which is coherent, hugely readable and at times even exciting. Spurling is especially good at establishing the importance of Matisse's early years in Northern France and the complex family relationships which affected both his work and outlook on life. What is also striking is how much of a struggle it was for Matisse to create his memorable images and to win critical acceptance for them. There were to be a great many highs and lows in his long career and the sense that most people failed to understand what he was trying to do never left him. Anyone who wishes to embark on that voyage of understanding will find this book invaluable, peppered with valuable insights into the importance of certain locations to Matisse, his intense working methods and the enormous importance of his relationships with his models in shaping the direction of his art.The book is never dull and brilliantly traces the evolution of one of art's great innovators, making one hungry to look at his work again, which brings me to the one big drawback with this edition: there are far too few illustrations. It is very frustrating to reading the author's perceptive comments on a work only to find no picture to accompany them. Nonetheless, this is a tremendous read which deserves all the plaudits it has received. I think most readers will find this condensed version more than adequate, but the longer 2 volume edition is there for the specialist. For art enthusiasts this is a must,but I recommend this book to those who don't usually read such biographies.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For lovers of Matisse's art, this book provides a remarkable picture of how his art developed over his lifetime and of the human and landscape influences on his work. It is also a joy to read, well explained, and fills a much-needed gap for those not willing to plough through the 1000-plus pages of the 2 volume biography. Highly recommended, and not just for the serious student, but for anyone intrigued by the huge variety of Matisse's work: this book gives a readable account of the artist's background, family life, friends and relations with other artists, plus the huge influence of his move from the North to the South of France along with visits to North Africa.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I rather wish I hadn't read this. Not that I haven't the utmost respect for Hilary Spurling's meticulous research, her dedication to her subject, and her obvious appreciation and understanding of Matisse's art. I just feel there is too much detail about what we'd normally refer to as the 'private life'. Matisse wanted to be remembered, but maybe not like this. Would he, for example, have welcomed such detailed disclosure of his medical conditions? As a reader, I felt uncomfortable, as if I'd strayed into territory where I wasn't invited. And does all this knowledge of the life distract from the art itself? For me it does, at least for the moment.
Perhaps this is a problem for biography in general, and particularly biography written when the subject is no longer around to advise, nor personally known to the writer. In the process of research, in the thrill of the chase, 'facts' have a tendency to become disproportionately important.
And so now I need to forget the 'life' and find my way back to the art.
Perhaps this is a problem for biography in general, and particularly biography written when the subject is no longer around to advise, nor personally known to the writer. In the process of research, in the thrill of the chase, 'facts' have a tendency to become disproportionately important.
And so now I need to forget the 'life' and find my way back to the art.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Matisse: The Life
A condensed version of Hilary Spurling's magisterial 2-volume Matisse biography. An essential and highly readable text giving insight to the artist and his work.
Published 15 months ago by vanessa
Matizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze! One big yawn.
This is a cut and paste job by someone who can string sentences together and has done her research (or has researchers do it for her) but there is not a drop of life in it. Read more
Published 19 months ago by John Fitzpatrick
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