A Second Life

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse by Alastair Sooke - an essential guide to one of the 20th century's greatest artists 
 
'One January morning in 1941, only a fortnight or so after his seventy-first birthday, the bearded and bespectacled French artist Henri Matisse was lying in a hospital bed preparing to die.' 
 
Diagnosed with cancer, the acclaimed painter, and rival of Picasso, seemed to be facing his demise. Then something unexpected happened. After a life-saving operation that left him too weak to paint, and often too frail to even get out of bed, Matisse invented a ground-breaking and effortless new way of making art. The results rank among his greatest work. 
 
In an astonishing blaze of creativity, he began conjuring mesmerising designs of dazzling dancers and thrilling tightrope walkers, sensuous swimmers and mythical figures falling from the heavens. His joyful and unprecedented new works were as spontaneous as jazz music and as wondrous as crystal-clear lagoons. Their medium? Coloured paper and scissors. 
 
This book, by art critic and broadcaster Alastair Sooke, focuses on Matisse's extraordinary final decade, which he called 'a second life', after he had returned from the grave. Both a biography and a guide to Matisse's 'cut-outs', it tells the story of the valedictory flourish of one of the most important and beloved artists of the twentieth century. 
 
Published in time for a major Tate Modern retrospective. 
 
'Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude' Sarah Vine, The Times 
 
'His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters', Guardian 
 
Alastair Sooke is art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, The World's Most Expensive 
Paintings, Treasures of Ancient Rome and, most recently, Treasures of Ancient Egypt. He is a regular reporter for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He is the author of Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art was Saved by Donald Duck.

Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude

His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters'

Alastair Sooke is the author of the biographies Henri Matisse: A Second Life and Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art was Saved by Donald Duck, both published by Penguin. He is art critic for the Daily Telegraph and is a popular BBC broadcaster. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Henri Matisse was one of the most important and beloved artists of the twentieth century, rivalled only by his friend - and rival - Pablo Picasso. In a body of work spanning over a half-century, he was variously a draughtsman, a printmaker, a sculptor and a painter. 
 
This short book is both a biography and a guide to his art. It focuses on the extraordinary works that Henri Matisse made during the last period of his life - the large-scale cut-outs on coloured paper, including his famous Blue Nudes, The Snail and Large Composition with Masks.

How Modern Art Was Saved by Donald Duck

Roy Lichtenstein

A Penguin Special on Roy Lichtenstein by Alastair Sooke - read in 2 hours or less 
 
'Why, Brad darling, this painting is a masterpiece! My, soon you'll have all of New York clamoring for your work!' 
 
Roy Lichtenstein - architect of Pop art, connoisseur of the comic strip, master of irony and prophet of popular culture. 
 
From exhilarating images of ice-cool jet pilots in dog fights, to blue-haired Barbie dolls drowning in scenes of domestic heartache, Lichtenstein's instantly recognisable paintings, with their Ben-Day dots and witty one-liners, defined the art of a generation. But how did a jobbing, unassuming painter of the Fifties become a world-famous Pop artist whose work today sells for millions? What do his paintings really tell us? And what is his legacy? 
 
This book, by art critic and broadcaster Alastair Sooke, is a perfect introduction to the artist and his work. Spanning Lichtenstein's career, and explaining his unique style, it is a journey through the life of one of the twentieth century's greatest artists. 
 
Published in time for a major new retrospective of the work of Roy Lichtenstein. 
 
'Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude' Sarah Vine, The Times 
 
'His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today' Sam Wollaston reviewing 'Modern Masters', Guardian 
 
Alastair Sooke is deputy art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, an acclaimed BBC One series that chronicled modern art in the twentieth century. Since 2009 he has reported regularly for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

His shows are excellent - clever, lively, scholarly, but not too lecturey; he's very good at linking his painters with the world outside the studio, and at how these artists have affected the world today

Alastair Sooke is deputy art critic of the Daily Telegraph. He has written and presented documentaries on television and radio for the BBC, including Modern Masters, an acclaimed BBC One series that chronicled modern art in the twentieth century. Since 2009 he has reported regularly for The Culture Show on BBC Two. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

Whaam! Roy Lichtenstein - architect of Pop art, connoisseur of the comic strip, master of irony and prophet of popular culture. From exhilarating images of ice-cool jet pilots in dog fights, to blue-haired Barbie dolls drowning in scenes of domestic heartache, Lichtenstein's instantly recognisable paintings, with their Ben-Day dots and witty one-liners, defined the art of a generation. But how did a jobbing, unassuming painter of the Fifties become a world-famous Pop artist whose work today sells for millions? What do his paintings really tell us? And what is his legacy? 
 
This book, which can be read in two hours or less, is a perfect introduction to the artist and his work. Spanning Lichtenstein's career, and explaining his unique style, it is a journey through the life of one of the twentieth century's greatest artists.

Alastair Sooke

As befits its title, Alastair Sooke's introduction to pop art is a colourful little book that should appeal to aficionados and casual admirers alike ... a well-researched and authoritative introduction to the movement ... a hugely engaging read.

A great introduction to what reveals itself to be a shifting and elusive 'movement'

A clear and lively outline of the history of pop art ... full of interesting facts and anecdotes that make the book (unlike so much art criticism) ... a pleasure to read.

Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude

A brilliant account . . . So poetically precise in its evocations of the cut-outs . . . so tender in its sympathy

Peter Conrad on 'Henri Matisse: A Second Life'

A Colourful History

Pop Art is the most important 20th-century art movement. A shift from the archetype to the stereotype, from the exalted to the everyday, it brought Modernism to the masses, making art sexy and fun with Coke cans and comics. Today, in our age of selfies and social networking, we are still living in a world defined by Pop. 
 
Full of brand new interviews with the most important living Pop Artists, Sooke's book traces the movement's surprising origins and describes the great works by Warhol, Lichtenstein and other key figures, revealing Pop's often overlooked global story, forgotten female artists, and afterlife today.

Alastair Sooke

Praise for Pop Art

As befits its title, Alastair Sooke's introduction to pop art is a colourful little book that should appeal to aficionados and casual admirers alike ... a well-researched and authoritative introduction to the mov ...

A great introduction to what reveals itself to be a shifting and elusive 'movement'

A clear and lively outline of the history of pop art ... full of interesting facts and anecdotes that make the book (unlike so much art criticism) ... a pleasure to read.

As befits its title, Alastair Sooke's introduction to pop art is a colourful little book that should appeal to aficionados and casual admirers alike ... a well-researched and authoritative introduction to the mov ...

A great introduction to what reveals itself to be a shifting and elusive 'movement'

A clear and lively outline of the history of pop art ... full of interesting facts and anecdotes that make the book (unlike so much art criticism) ... a pleasure to read.

As befits its title, Alastair Sooke's introduction to pop art is a colourful little book that should appeal to aficionados and casual admirers alike ... a well-researched and authoritative introduction to the mov ...

A great introduction to what reveals itself to be a shifting and elusive 'movement'

A clear and lively outline of the history of pop art ... full of interesting facts and anecdotes that make the book (unlike so much art criticism) ... a pleasure to read.

Books by Alastair Sooke

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