Matisse: The Man and His Art, 1869-1918
by: Flam, Jack

Hardcover. Ithaca NY, Cornell University, 1st, 1986, Hardcover, 523 pages. Flam, who translated Matisse's writings in Matisse on Art (Phaidon, 1973), presents a thorough and scholarly examination of the artist's life and stylistic development. Each painting is given a complete analysis, revealing Matisse's encounters with the prevailing styles and theories of art to arrive at work distinctly his own. Glimpses of his personal life combined with discussions of his paintings show the inner turmoil with which he struggled to find a style that would satisfy both his instinct and his intellect. Flam provides new documentary material, corrects earlier misconceptions, and redates several paintings. Heavily illustrated, often with fine color reproductions, this volume is an excellent successor to Alfred Barr's Matisse .