cover image Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America

Miss Etta and Dr. Claribel: Bringing Matisse to America

Susan Fillion. Godine, $18.95 (92p) ISBN 978-1-56792-434-3

More than just the fascinating story of two sisters from Baltimore who amassed a remarkable collection of artwork by Matisse and his contemporaries, this is also the story of Matisse, Picasso, and Gertrude and Leo Stein, all of whom figure prominently. Fillion, who teaches drawing at the Baltimore Museum of Art (where the Cone sisters' collection can be seen today), contributes paintings in the style of Matisse to illustrate the major players, their encounters, and travels. The sisters' personalities and passions come through vividly in Fillion's prose, while many captioned reproductions of paintings and drawings (from the Cone collection and elsewhere) both inform and point to the excitement of the art world in the early 20th century. As Claribel Cone put it, "I took beauty where I found it." Ages 10%E2%80%93up. (July)