Matisse
The Pursuit of Harmony
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
Book
Hardback
275 pages
978-0-8478-7764-5 (ISBN)
Description
A unique opportunity to experience the full brilliance of Matisse, featuring major works from museums, foundations, and private collections-many rarely shown in the United States.
This definitive volume offers an unparalleled look at Henri Matisse's lifelong pursuit of form, created to accompany a landmark exhibition. Showcasing more than fifty paintings, works on paper, and sculptures, it brings together a remarkable range of material in one beautifully crafted book.
The publication underscores the interdisciplinary nature of Matisse's practice, presenting the dialogue between the artist's two- and three-dimensional work. It traces his evolution from the early years of the twentieth century through his boldly innovative postwar period.
A major contribution to Matisse studies and an indispensable resource for collectors, scholars, and art enthusiasts, this volume preserves a rare, non-traveling exhibition for a global audience-offering a vivid, enduring record of Matisse's transformative vision.
This definitive volume offers an unparalleled look at Henri Matisse's lifelong pursuit of form, created to accompany a landmark exhibition. Showcasing more than fifty paintings, works on paper, and sculptures, it brings together a remarkable range of material in one beautifully crafted book.
The publication underscores the interdisciplinary nature of Matisse's practice, presenting the dialogue between the artist's two- and three-dimensional work. It traces his evolution from the early years of the twentieth century through his boldly innovative postwar period.
A major contribution to Matisse studies and an indispensable resource for collectors, scholars, and art enthusiasts, this volume preserves a rare, non-traveling exhibition for a global audience-offering a vivid, enduring record of Matisse's transformative vision.
Reviews / Votes
"For the last two years, working with his three children - Eleanor, Nicholas and Alexander - and Emily Crowley, the gallery's director and curator - [William Acquavella] has been organizing "Matisse: The Pursuit of Harmony,'' an exhibition opening April 9 that includes more than 50 paintings, sculptures and works-on-paper from public and private collections, many of which have rarely been shown before... "It is about the artist's approach to form and the figure and how it inspired Matisse to evolve as an artist,'' said Crowley, the curator, which is why there are a good number of sculptures on display in every room." - THE NEW YORK TIMES"[Matisse: The Pursuit of Harmony] distills a conversation essential to Matisse's whole career: the balancing interplay between color, form, and line in space into a composition that feels spontaneous but is actually the result of attuned study." - GALERIE MAGAZINE
"'Matisse: The Pursuit of Harmony' is a stunning gathering of more than 40 paintings, drawings and sculptures [....] Over and over again, he seduces us with color, engages us with delectable subject matter, and then stuns us with his overwhelming pictorial intelligence and inventiveness." - WALL STREET JOURNAL
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Illustrations
90 ILLUSTRATIONS
Dimensions
Height: 305 mm
Width: 244 mm
Weight
567 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8478-7764-5 (9780847877645)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
John Klein is an internationally known specialist of Matisse. He is professor of art history at Washington University in St. Louis and author of Matisse Portraits (2001) and Matisse and Decoration (2018). Elizabeth Cowling is professor emerita in history of art at the University of Edinburgh. She coauthored Matisse Picasso (2002). Alastair Wright is associate professor in the history of art at Oxford and author of Matisse and the Subject of Modernism.