Book

Matisse, his art and his textiles : the fabric of dreams.

London : Royal Academy of Arts, [2004]

©2004

212 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) portraits ; 28 cm

Textiles were the key to Matisse's visual imagination. His ancestors had been weavers for generations: the textures and vibrancy of cloth were in his blood. Although Matisse was to outgrow every other influence, textiles retained their power to inspire his imagination throughout his life. His studio in Nice was a treasure house of exotic Persian carpets, delicate Arab embroideries, richly hued African wall hangings, curtains, costumes, patterned screens and backcloths. This sumptuously illustrated book, which includes over 100 works by Matisse together with numerous colourful fabrics, is the catalogue of a groundbreaking exhibition at the Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis; the Royal Academy of Arts, London; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Matisse's relationship with the textiles that surrounded him from his earliest days is revealed here for the first time. Charting how the fabrics he painted from became the very fabric of his paintings, the authors examine the ways in which Matisse used what he called his "working library" of textiles to furnish, order and compose some of the twentieth century's most pioneering works of art.

Matisse, Henri, 1869-1954 -- Exhibitions.

Matisse, Henri, 1869-1954 -- Criticism and interpretation.

Matisse, Henri, 1869-1954 -- Themes, motives.

Textile fabrics in art.

Textile fabrics -- Private collections -- Exhibitions.

Spurling, Hilary, author.

Dumas, Ann, curator.

Flam, Jack D., author.

Labrusse, Rémi, author.

Szymusiak, Dominique, author.

Dumas, Ann, author.

Brunner, Kathleen, author.

Musée Matisse, host institution.

Royal Academy of Arts (Great Britain), host institution.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), host institution.

Fabric of dreams

Originally published on the occasion of the exhibition: Matisse, his art and his textiles : the fabric of dreams, at Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, 23 October 2004-25 January 2005; Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 5 March-30 May 2005; and, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 23 June-25 September 2005.

Exhibition curated by Ann Dumas and others.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Material world : Matisse, his art and his textiles / Hilary Spurling -- Matisse and the metaphysics of decoration / Jack Flam -- 'What remains belongs to God' : Henri Matisse, Alois Riegl, and the arts of Islam / Rémi Labrusse -- Chasubles : 'the purest and most radiant works ever created by Matisse' / Dominique Szymusiak -- Catalogue plates / with section introductions by Ann Dumas and Dominique Szymusiak -- Beginnings in Bohain ; A balance of forces ; A decorative art ; The colour of ideas : chasubles and African fabrics -- Catalogue entries / Kathleen Brunner, Ann Dumas and Dominique Szymusiak -- A key to the textiles -- Chronology / Hilary Spurling.

2006273796

9781903973462

9781903973479

1903973465 (cased)

1903973473 (pbk.)

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