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Henri Matisse is one of the leading figures of modern art. His unparalleled cut-outs are among the most significant of any artist's late works. When ill health first prevented Matisse from painting, he began to cut into painted paper with scissors as his primary technique to make maquettes for a number of commissions, from books and stained glass window designs to tapestries and ceramics. Taking the form of a 'studio diary', the catalogue re-examines the cut-outs in terms of the methods and materials that Matisse used, and looks at the tensions in the works between finish and process; and drawings and colour.

"More than one hundred color plates, accompanied by reactions and comments from critics and contemporaries, record the career of the French sculptor, cut-out artist, and painter of exotic, brightly colored nudes." -- Amazon

Completing this invaluable record, the correspondence between Matisse and Father Marie-Alain Couturier, the Dominican priest at the forefront of the post-World War II movement to commission works of religious art from leading modern painters and sculptors, details the creation of the Chapel's most remarkable feature - Matisse's bold stained-glass windows. The numerous letters he and the artist exchanged are in themselves a fascinating exchange on the art and the significance of modern stained glass.

Book designed to accompany an exhibition, held in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Art, of the French artist's gouaches.