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Matisse: The Life

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Matisse: The Life

By: Hilary Spurling
Narrated by: Sophie Aldred
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About this listen

Henri Matisse was one of the most important and beloved artists of the 20th century, rivalled only by his friend and competitor Pablo Picasso. Hilary Spurling's The Unknown Matisse and Matisse the Master were together heralded as the definitive biography of the artist, and Matisse the Master went on to win the Whitbread Book of the Year award in 2005.

This essential abridged edition of The Life reveals the origins of Matisse's astonishing talent, provides a unique insight into his life and work and, by documenting the difficult path he took alone, clearly places him at the front rank of those who made art modern.

©2009 Hilary Spurling (P)2018 Audible, Ltd Art

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A really well told account of Matisse’s life and works but would have helped to know which were the key works so I could have looked them up beforehand.

Fascinating

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I thought this was a wonderful biography w the quality of a good novel; sensitively written, lots of detail - and sympathetic to the man himself, in a life with a family that was complex and controversial. M was certainly single minded with inevitable relationship casualties along the way.
There was much to learn about the development of art of the period and it’s artists across a cyclorama of European history; and chiefly I really absorbed this in-depth exposure to Matisse, of whom I’ve been aware and seen exhibited but not to this degree. I looked up the paintings as they were described in the text and I guess, a written version might have included some these images, intrinsic to appreciating the work as a whole.
Excellent narration w consistency and credible pronunciation.
Many hours well spent and a sequel to having visited the chapel in Vance many years ago.

Great story and time well spent

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Took a while to get used to the choice of narrator, I suppose I expected a man to read a man’s biography. But all the characters were beauty upon conveyed, and since women are so prevalent in the artists life, it worked beautifully and became a mesmerising listen. I did have to detour often to look at a book of paintings, but that wasn’t essential, it just added to the story.

An epic feast

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Informative, well-researched and elegantly written, this biography is itself a work of art. Spurling’s ability to sketch characters and environments is remarkable. The reader is also very good.
The problem with audiobooks on art topics is the lack of visual material, and despite the very poetic descriptions of paintings, a folder with pictures would have been useful.

Fascinating

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I didn’t know much about Matisse before listening or like or appreciate his art. After listening I’m well informed and now appreciate his massive and unique contribution to modern art. Also a story of his family

Enjoyable and informative

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Well read but impossible to follow without a list of images references. I understand there could be copyright restrictions showing the images but surely a list of works could be provided.

No image list

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