Nicholas Watkins Libros

A definitive survey of the work of the great 20th-century colourist.

This handsome book, published to coincide with a major exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, demonstrates the achievement of the famous Galerie Maeght, one of the most influential and creative galleries of the modern era. Focusing on the four artists at the heart of the collection of the Fondation Marguerite et Aimé Maeght – Miró, Calder, Giacometti, and Braque – the book also examines the remarkable contribution that Aimé Maeght, founder of the collection, made to art in the mid-twentieth century as a collector, dealer, exhibition-maker, and publisher. Capturing the bold spirit of postwar art in France, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of modern art.

Many view Henri Matisse as the outstanding painter of the twentiety century, and certainly he is one of the great colorists of all time. This volume, oversized and lavishly illustrated, offers an impressive and eminently accessible introduction to the artist and his work. Nicholas Watkins traces Matisse's career from the Fauve paintings of the 1907 Salon d'Automne to the final flowering of his paper cut-outs, culminating in his masterpiece, the Vence Chapel. Along the way Watkins describes the full range of Matisse's paintings, sculpture, book illustrations, and paper cut-outs with visual sensitivity, a keen knowledge of technique, and, above all, a warmth of style. He is at his most eloquent and perceptive when he pauses to look at specific masterpieces in all their complexity--The Dinner Table, Le Bonheur de vivre, and Luce, calme et volupe, among many others. He also shows us how Matisse responded to the artistic, political, and social events of his day, from Cubism to the two World Wars. The 225 illustrations--nearly 100 of them in color--represent the full richness of Matisse's oeuvre, while maintaining a balance between key works, familiar masterpieces, and rarely reproduced paintings. There are also numerous back-up illustrations of works by predecessors and contemporaries who influenced Matisse. About the Author: Nicholas Watkins is Senior Lecturer in the History of Art at Coventry Polytechnic in England. He is a regular contributor to a number of leading art journals.