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Article: Matisse: the man and his art, 1869-1918.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- November 20, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1987 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Matisse: The Man and His Art, 1869-1918
by Jack Flam (Cornell, 528 pp., $75)
FLAM'S BOOK (despite its subtitle) is not a life of Matisse, but a beautifully illustrated study of the period in which he produced his greatest works, with bits of biographical information thrown in. Born in dreary Picardy, the submissive son of a prosperous grain and hardware merchant, Matisse passed his law exams in Paris but never visited the Louvre. Attacks of appendicitis enabled him to escape both military service and the law office, and to study painting with Gustave Moreau for five years while his disapproving father supported him.
Flam does not, as he claims, ...