“Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.” ~ Henri Matisse
Last Thursday evening we went to see the Matisse As A Printmaker exhibit at the Blanton Museum and we had such a great time. The exhibit was lovely and the museum was much bigger than I expected actually. We’ve vowed that we must go back for a better tour. I briefly walked through one of the galleries that had early 20th century photography and I really want to go back for a closer look.
Anyway, this was an exciting collection for me to see because when I think of Matisse, I think of vibrant colors and bold strokes. Seeing this collection of 63 prints shows that Matisse was also fearless in trying different art processes such as etching, aquatint, monotype, lithography, woodcut and linoleum cut. I think it’s so interesting to see what artists go through in their artistic process/transformation, don’t you?
I don’t know too much about Matisse but I found this book, Matisse the Master, which sounds like it would be a wonderful account of his life. I’m adding that one to my radar. Does anyone know of any novel that has a fictionalized account of his life? I know some other painters like Eduard Manet, Frida Kahlo and Vermeer have been at the center of some novels and it’d be interesting to see if there was one about Matisse.
As Matisse was French and lived and produced some of his most famous works while living in Paris, I’m counting this museum visit as part of my Paris in July experience. I’m still reading a book set in Paris so hopefully another post to come about my armchair travels to France.
I adore Matisse! What a fascinating exhibit. There is one here in NY at MOMA that I am hoping to see. I always think of him as a colorist, so the idea of him as printmaker is most appealing (he began doing cutouts as his eyesight failed, yes?). Bio looks great, too. Another for the List! Thank you.
I love Matisse! And one of my favourite authors (Byatt) wrote a short story collection inspired by his artwork that I also love. 😀
I loooove Matisse! A Matisse/Picasso show was the first museum exhibit I ever attended (as a high school student), and his work is just magical. Don’t know of any novels about his life, but if you find any, let me know!
ds – I hope you get to see the one at the MOMA! And, yes, I believe that’s right about the cutouts. Like I said, I don’t know much about him so this exhibit was great – I didn’t even think about all the different aspects of art he was involved in.
Eva – Oh, I’m going to have to look for that Byatt short story! Thanks for the tip 🙂
andi – That is so cool! I think one of the first exhibits I went to was of the impressionists so perhaps that is why I love most of the impressionists. I’ll keep you posted if I find any novels.
I just checked, and the book’s called The Matisse Stories. Easy enough; don’t know why I couldn’t remember it! lol
Eva – You rock! Thank you for letting me know. I’m going to see if my library has that.
Oh – this sounds delightful!
I have concentrated my art studies this summer on the Impressionists (and Matisse came along just after that, I believe). However, I was in the bookstore the other day and found Chasing Matisse: A Year in France Living my Dream by James Morgan for under $2.00 I picked it up, but have not yet read it. I have no idea if it is worthwhile, but thought I would pass the info along….
Molly – Yes, Matisse was right after the Impressionists. I think his early period was called Fauve painting? I really need to learn about that. And, oh thank you so much for the title! I will definitely be adding that one to my list for more Matisse reading.