Matisse, His Art and His Textiles: The Fabric of Dreams

Matisse came from a clan of weavers and maintained a ""working library"" of textiles throughout his life, drawing on them for inspiration. This book-the catalogue for a travelling exhibition that makes stops at Paris's Musee Matisse, London's Royal Academy of Arts and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art-documents a small portion of that collection, which has been rediscovered a half-century after his death, but the focus here among the 190 color illustrations is on the paintings and drawings in which the textile collection plays a prominent role. Among the four essayists, Flam (Matisse and Picasso) argues that Matisse's ""use of decorative motifs was embedded in his understanding of the new, non-narrative means of painting pioneered by the Post-Impressionists."" Others cover Matisse's relation to the arts of Islam and his work in chasubles. Not for the casual reader seeking an introduction to the master's works, this book nevertheless provides enthusiasts with previously unplumbed depths.