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Article: Review:Matisse the Master :Debauchery of the canvas
- Article from:
- Scotland on Sunday
- Article date:
- March 27, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 Scotland on Sunday. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Matisse the Master, Hilary Spurling, Hamish Hamilton, GBP 25
IT IS one of art history's great puzzles. How did a man so
apparently quiet, conservative and from some accounts just plain
boring as Henri Matisse manage to create some of the most wonderfully
vibrant, sensuous, sexy paintings the world has ever seen? The answer
seems finally to have been provided in what must be a prime contender
for biography of the year.
In the first volume of her life of Matisse, Hilary Spurling
offered a valuable insight into the painter's obscure early years. In
its eagerly awaited successor, she performs a similar service for the
latter part of his life.
While the earlier book enabled us to grasp the ...