Matisse Portraits [Anglais] [Relié]

Klein (art history, Univ. of Missouri, Columbia) uses Matisse's portraits to illustrate various aspects of portraiture, from the social, philosophical, historical, and psychological to the purely painterly. Through vivid descriptions of the paintings and discussions of the artist's relationships with his sitters family, friends, patrons, colleagues, etc. he develops the initial broad theoretical discussion of portraiture into a particular chronological analysis of the meaning of portrait painting to Matisse's life and work. Some of Matisse's paintings of his wife are distant, while portraits of his daughter seem more intimate, however isolated she may appear. Especially interesting is the artist's portrayal of himself throughout his life, revealing his introspection, integrity, and persona. John Russell's Matisse: Father and Son (LJ 5/15/99) will satisfy the desire for more details on the artist's character and family life. Here, however, Klein provides a novel approach to understanding one of the 20th century's most important artists as well as a fresh definition of a heretofore ill-defined genre. Lush illustrations are plentiful throughout. Artists and art students interested in portraiture, as well as specialists, will want this book. Recommended for all types of Western art book collections. Ellen Bates, New York

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

A complex and challenging presentation, thoroughly documented and attractively illustrated.

The devotion of Henri Matisse to the human figure led him to make portraits of many different sitters--members of his family, fellow artists, professionals in other fields, patrons, and various others. At key points in his career, he was also an obsessive observer of himself, creating intense series of self-portraits. This pioneering book, with some 200 stunning illustrations, offers the first comprehensive account of Matisse's activity as a maker of portraits and self-portraits. Matisse scholar John Klein goes beyond standard approaches to portraiture that focus on questions of likeness and expression of character. He considers the transaction that produces a portrait--a transaction between the artist and the sitter (even when the sitter is oneself) that is social as much as artistic. Klein investigates the various social contexts of Matisse's sitters and finds that differences among these contexts produced different kinds of portraits and self- portraits with different goals. This was in part due to the personal and social identity of the sitter, but partly also to Matisse's self-perception with respect to the sitter and his goal of engaging the genre as a mode of personal expression. Klein also addresses the vexing question of whether depictions of hired models can be considered as portraits and concludes that they lack the social context that is necessary to portraiture. Through the psychological and contextual examination of Matisse's portraits and self-portraits, Klein throws new light on an important body of work by this influential artist. The author also discusses the portrait practice of some of Matisse's contemporaries--Picasso, Kirchner, Bonnard, Vallotton, and Boldini--to develop fresh insights into the status of portraiture within twentieth-century art as a whole.

John Klein is associate professor of art history at University of Missouri- Columbia.