Picture Painted in 1,000 Pages
Tuesday September 2, 2008
The cliché has it that a picture is worth a 1,000 words, so could a painter then be worth 1,000 pages? Certainly biography Hilary Spurling thought so with her two-volume biography of the artist Henri Matisse which comes in at that sort of length. Matisse is the artist I've chosen for this year's "in the style of" painting project. If the project grabs your imagination, if you may want to immerse yourself in his life, times, and work by reading Spurling's epic biography. Don't be intimidated by its length. It's written in a very readable style and when I'd finished I could happily have continued for a third volume. Read my review...
See Also:
Matisse Painting Project
Great Art Reads for Painters
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Comments
I would agree that this is a must read if you are interested in art history. It really gives you an insight into the development of one of the most influential painters.
There is also a similarly very comprehensive book about Picasso.John Richardson’s Definitive Picasso Biography.