Focusing on the period 1905-1913, this provocative and groundbreaking new book refutes the popular view of Matisse as the painter of relaxed pleasures, the master of decorative line and sensuous color. Alastair Wright discovers a darker, more complex side to Matisse: an artist whose work, caught in the uneasy space between modernism and tradition, was fundamentally engaged with the most pressing of modernity's artistic and ideological debates. Presenting a series of brilliant and highly original analyses of Matisse's most ...
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Focusing on the period 1905-1913, this provocative and groundbreaking new book refutes the popular view of Matisse as the painter of relaxed pleasures, the master of decorative line and sensuous color. Alastair Wright discovers a darker, more complex side to Matisse: an artist whose work, caught in the uneasy space between modernism and tradition, was fundamentally engaged with the most pressing of modernity's artistic and ideological debates. Presenting a series of brilliant and highly original analyses of Matisse's most important early paintings, Wright locates the artist within a wider cultural field in which the identities of modernism - and of its viewers - were highly contested. Wright offers a penetrating examination of the public response to Matisse's work, arguing that his early-twentieth-century audience found in his painting a deeply disturbing challenge to contemporary concepts of the self, of the nation, and of the West. This sumptuously illustrated book positions the work of Matisse and a number of his contemporaries in relation to key aspects of modernity - the commodification of the individual, the dislocation of cultural identity, and the effacement of racial boundaries under the pressure of imperial expansion - and provides a compelling account of how these contradictory historical materials fused to give birth to Matisse's modernism. What emerges is a renewed sense of the rich complexity of an artistic practice suspended between the seductive potential of pure color and an always ambivalent engagement with tradition. Tracing the interplay between Matisse's painting and discourses of art and subjectivity, Wright offers a significant new reading of one of the central figures of early-twentieth-century modernism.
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Add this copy of Matisse and the Subject of Modernism to cart. $52.49, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Matisse and the Subject of Modernism to cart. $65.00, very good condition, Sold by Hennessey + Ingalls rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Los Angeles, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2005 by Princeton University Press.
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Seller's Description:
Used-Very Good. Focusing on the period 1905-1913, this provocative and groundbreaking new book refutes the popular view of Matisse as the painter of relaxed pleasures, the master of decorative line and sensuous color. Alastair Wright discovers a darker, more complex side to Matisse: an artist whose work, caught in the uneasy space between modernism and tradition, was fundamentally engaged with the most pressing of modernity's artistic and ideological debates. Presenting a series of brilliant and highly original analyses of Matisse's most important early paintings, Wright locates the artist within a wider cultural field in which the identities of modernism--and of its viewers--were highly contested. Wright offers a penetrating examination of the public response to Matisse's work, arguing that his early-twentieth-century audience found in his painting a deeply disturbing challenge to contemporary concepts of the self, of the nation, and of the West. This sumptuously illustrated book positions the work of Matisse and a number of his contemporaries in relation to key aspects of modernity--the commodification of the individual, the dislocation of cultural identity, and the effacement of racial boundaries under the pressure of imperial expansion--and provides a compelling account of how these contradictory historical materials fused to give birth to Matisse's modernism. What emerges is a renewed sense of the rich complexity of an artistic practice suspended between the seductive potential of pure color and an always ambivalent engagement with tradition. Tracing the interplay between Matisse's painting and discourses of art and subjectivity, Wright offers a significant new reading of one of the central figures of early-twentieth-century modernism. 'This book offers fresh insights and interpretations and uncovers new critical materials while utilizing novel theoretical perspectives. It will be essential reading not only for all scholars of Matisse and of Fauvism and early-twentieth-century art, but also readers with an interest in French cultural history and pre-World War I society. Art historians who seek models for utilizing contemporary criticism and theoretical perspectives in connection with studies of individual works will also find much of value here. '--Tamar Garb, University College London'Complex and ambitious, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of modern art and, more broadly, to anyone interested in revisionist approaches to early twentieth-century culture. It combines high standards of research, sophistication of method, and a sustained commitment to its central thesis: that Matisse's Fauve paintings, routinely considered to be canonical and beautiful, should be appreciated for the subversive challenge they offer to a coherent view of modernism. '--John Klein, author of 'Matisse Portraits' Slight scratching/scuffing on dust jacket. Book has minor shelf wear.
Add this copy of Matisse and the Subject of Modernism. (Still in the to cart. $75.00, like new condition, Sold by Black Swan Books, Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Lexington, KY, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by Princeton University Press.
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Seller's Description:
Fine in Fine dust jacket. As New. Still in the original shrinkwrap. Illustrated with 76 color plates and 52 plates in black-and-white. The dust jacket is clipped. Not an ex-library copy. No remainder marks. No names or marks in the text. Most books shipped within 24 hours. All books mailed with Delivery Confirmation. Fine condition in fine dust jacket. Selling Used and Rare books from our bookstore in the heart of the Bluegrass since 1984.; Color and black-and-white illustrations; 4to.; 287 pages.
