Customer Reviews (1)

Essential art-historical reading
The co-author of this extraordinary volume was a Russian orphan who became Henri Matisse's studio assistant in the early 1930's and ultimately, his model.Within a relatively brief time (1935-1947), Matisse produced tensof pictures using Delectorskaya as his principal model.This book is anincredible document of one artist's relationship with his source ofinspiration.It is also contains great insight for the historianinterested in technical procedures - the book describes Matisse's workingmethods with an intimacy only Delectorskaya could have known.With so muchunpleasant criticism being written about the evils of the "malegaze," it comes as a relief to read a book which depicts therelationship between artist and model as one of mutual give-and-take,resulting in truly collaborative works of art.The reproductions aresuperb, and the precise chronological order (each image is dated exactly)allows the reader to reconstruct in his or her mind Matisse's dailyactivities.The physical beauty of the works is not overwhelmed with anyexplanatory text.That Matisse was able to produce so many extraordinaryworks of art despite his poor health and the darkening political climate ofEurope in the late 1930's is a testament to both his great gifts and thepower of art to bring joy and hope.Many of the works in this book havenever been published elsewhere, so the book also consititutes a valuabledocument for historians, particularly since several of the paintings shownvanished during World War II.A beautiful and moving achievement. ... Read more