Henri Matisse (1869-1954) was a fighting spirit. Despite a cancer
diagnosis in 1941, increasing frailty, and the confines of a
wheelchair, the indomitable Frenchman never stopped in his quest to
make art. With what he called une seconde vie, a second life, he
embarked on a remarkable collage period, cutting and pasting pieces
of colored paper into gouaches decoupees of birds, plants, flowers,
and the female form. Emphasizing color and contrast, the cut-out
technique generated both striking lines and vivid juxtapositions.
In works such as Icarus (1943), The Blue Nude (1952), The Snail
(1953), and The Sheaf (1953), clean forms and elemental structures
power a compositional force that belies the work's decorative
appeal, at once tightly organized and infectious with joie de
vivre. As his work progressed, Matisse's excitement with his
results fueled ever-larger pieces, advancing from small works to
vast wall-sized murals. As his final years approached, Matisse
reveled in the simplicity and brilliance of these pieces, avowing,
"Only what I created after the illness constitutes my real self:
free, liberated..." In this essential introductory book, we revisit
this joyful final chapter of Matisse's long and prodigious career,
examining how the cut-outs encapsulated the artist's many years
exploring the possibilities of composition, form, and color. About
the series Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into
the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in
TASCHEN's Basic Art series features: a detailed chronological
summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her
cultural and historical importance a concise biography
approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions
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