Unknown Matisse: A Life of Henri Matisse, the Early Years, 1869-1908

In this fully illustrated biography, Hilary Spurling sheds an entirely new light on the humiliations and failures that Henri Matisse had to overcome in order to develop into the greatest French painter of the 21st century. She skillfully evokes the French art scene of those changing years and conveys what Matisse was looking at, what he experimented with, endured and suffered. Because his family maintained strict control of both personal archives and posthumous privacy, no full biography of Matisse has ever been written until now. This superlative book -- the first of two volumes -- successful marries scholarship of a very high order with a vivid, energetically-paced text. ³A splendid work.² ³This book is marvelous to read.²Spurling, Hilary is the author of 'Unknown Matisse: A Life of Henri Matisse, the Early Years, 1869-1908', published 2001 under ISBN 9780756779214 and ISBN 0756779219.