Matisse

This massive and exhaustive study, generally considered to be the major work on the artist, was originally published in 1984, and has been out of print for 10 years. With 880 illustrations (230 in color) and a new preface, the volume arrives in time for the blockbuster Matisse-Picasso exhibit, currently hanging in Paris and opening in New York in February 2003. While the book has not been re-set, and its newspaper column-like typestting looks boxy and old-fashioned in the age of Quark and Photoshop, the font and lay-out seem appropriate to this book's old-school ""appreciation"" approach-Schneider starts with particular works, and lets them guide his observations about Matisse's life, surroundings, and ways of working. The result-17 years in preparation, weighing in at 8 1/2 pounds-brings Matisse (1869-1954) and his work into focus with energy and a non-intrusive judiciousness, from early still lives to the stark near color-field-like work of The Conversation (1911) and The Piano Lesson (1916) to the late paper cut-outs including Acrobats (1952). The book's original preface explains Schneider's own working methods (Schneider's new preface is mostly concerned with correcting his earlier version of Matisse's turn to his late style), but it can't quite account for the depth of understanding he is able to convey throughout. Those with serious Matisse fixations will have to pry open their wallets for this one, as it remains essential.