Toward the end of his monumental career as a painter, sculptor, and lithographer, an elderly, sickly Matisse was unable to stand and use a paintbrush for long. In this late phase of his life—he was almost 80 years of age—he developed the technique of “carving into color,” creating bright, bold paper cut-outs. Though dismissed by some contemporary critics as the folly of a senile old man, these gouaches decoupées (gouache cut-outs) in fact represented a revolution in modern art, a whole new medium that reimagined the age-old conflict between color and line.
This fresh edition of the first volume of our original award-winning XXL book provides a thorough historical context to Matisse’s cut-outs, tracing their roots in his 1930 trip to Tahiti, through to his final years in Nice. It includes many photos of Matisse, some rare images, byHenri Cartier-Bresson and the filmmakerF. W. Murnau and text from Matisse, publisher E. Tériade, the poets Louis Aragon,Henri Michaux, and Pierre Reverdy, and Matisse’s son-in-law Georges Duthuit.
In their deceptive simplicity, the cut-outs achieved both a sculptural quality and an early minimalist abstraction which would profoundly influence generations of artists to come. Exuberant, multi-hued, and often grand in scale, these works are true pillars of 20th-century art, and as bold and innovative to behold today as they were in Matisse’s lifetime.
Authors: Xavier-Gilles Néret, Gilles Néret
Object: Hardcover
Measurements: 17 x 24 cm
Weight: 1.4 kg
Pages: 412
Language: Spanish
Sustainability:Tachen is a carbon neutral publisher Each year, Taschen offsets its annual carbon emissions with carbon credits at the Instituto Terra, a reforestation program in Minas Gerais, Brazil, founded by Lélia and Sebastião Salgado.
Shipping: This item ships within EU in 3 - 5 business days. We take the satisfaction of customers very seriously. Every product is inspected to the highest possible quality standards before dispatch. If you are not fully happy with your item, you can return it within 14 days of receipt, providing its new and in original condition.
Taschen is an art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen.
The company began as Taschen Comics, publishing Benedikt's comic collection.
Taschen has been a pioneer in making lesser-seen art available to mainstream bookstores, including some fetishistic imagery, queer art, historical erotica, pornography and adult magazines (including multiple books with Playboy magazine). The firm has brought potentially controversial art into broader public view, publishing it alongside its more mainstream books of comics reprints, art photography, painting, design, fashion, advertising history, film, and architecture.
Taschen publications are available in a variety of sizes, from oversized tomes to small pocket-sized books. The company has also produced calendars, address books, and postcards sets
Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device
Shop consciously
Sign up and build a better tomorrow
choosing a selection results in a full page refresh
press the space key then arrow keys to make a selection