I’m not upset. It’s nerves

Julian Bell

  • Matisse the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse Vol. II The Conquest of Colour 1909-54 by Hilary Spurling
    Hamish Hamilton, 512 pp, £25.00, March 2005, ISBN 0 241 13339 4

The subtitle Hilary Spurling has given to the second half of her biography of Henri Matisse is upbeat and triumphant, in line with orthodox interpretations of the painter’s career: ‘The Conquest of Colour’. To place the volume still more squarely in line with exhibition-poster stereotypes, she has capped that with ‘Matisse the Master’. These labels are deceptive. They seem to be pasted over some more appropriate tag for the biographical material to hand: one that should probably read along the lines of ‘the long anguish’, or maybe ‘84 years of acute discomfort’. ‘Unremitting angst’ wouldn’t quite catch the tone: that would suggest something rather more spiritualised and philosophically pitched.

You are not Logged In

  • If you have already registered login here
  • If you are a print subscriber using the site for the first time please register here
  • If you are not yet a subscriber you can subscribe here
  • If you are a member of a subscribing institution or University library please login here
  • If you have an Institutional print subscription and online access is not included, find out about our Institutional online subscriptions