Spanning six decades of the artist's work, Matisse: life & spirit presents an extraordinary immersion in the range and depth of the art of Henri Matisse, one of the world's most beloved, innovative and influential artists.
The works reach from his early adventures in colour as a Fauvist through to the serene and distilled designs for his chapel in Vence in the south of France. Through paintings, drawings, sculptures and a compelling presentation of his triumphant cut-outs, it reveals how Matisse renewed his vision time and again over his long career, seeking new ways of celebrating the seen world and expressing the energy he felt in it.
Highlights include the especially important early work Le Luxe I 1907; the mid-career masterpiece Decorative figure on an ornamental ground 1925; and the majestic self-portrait, The sorrow of the king 1952, one of the largest of the famous cut-outs that the artist created in his late career.
Filled with brilliant colour, dynamic energy, visual joy and emotional power, Matisse: life & spirit offers an inspirational journey through the life and art of this ceaselessly inventive and life-affirming painter.
Developed in collaboration with the Centre Pompidou in Paris, which holds an exceptional collection of w orks by the artist, Matisse: life & spirit is the greatest single exhibition of Matisse masterworks ever to be seen in Sydney.
Text by:
Roger Benjamin,
Patrice Deparpe,
Justin Paton,
Alastair Wright
Edited by:
Aurélie Verdier
Imprint: Art Gallery of NSW
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions:
Height: 270mm,
Width: 215mm,
Weight: 1.380kg
ISBN: 9781741741537
ISBN 10: 174174153X
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 21 December 2021
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Directors’ foreword Michael - Brand & Bernard Blistène • Essays: The shapes of the self - Aurélie Verdier; Voyage and vision in the art of Matisse - Roger Benjamin; ‘Primitivism’ and the encounter with African art - Alastair Wright, Matisse’s Oceanian experience - Patrice Deparpe; The Vence chapel - Justin Paton • Plates - Anne Théry and Marjolaine Buezard: Towards fauvism 1895–1909; Cubism radicality; Sculpture (1913–30); Figures and interiors (1918–29); Modernity, the turnaround (1930–37); From Nice to Vence (1938–48); Tahiti–Polynesia (1930–46); The Vence chapel (1948–51); The cut-outs (1930–54) • Henri Matisse, an illustrated chronology - Marjolaine Beuzard • Notes • Bibliography • List of works and illustrations • Acknowledgments • Contributors • Index
Aurelie Verdier is curator of modern art at the Centre Pompidou. Roger Benjamin is professor of art history at the University of Sydney. Alastair Wright is associate professor of the history of art at St John's College, Oxford. Patrice Deparpe is the director of the Matisse Museum in Cateau-Cambresis, France. Justin Paton is head curator of international art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. Anne Thery is an assistant curator at Centre Pompidou. Marjolaine Buezard is a conservation officer at Centre Pompidou.
