Matthew Smith: A Biography - Hardcover

Malcolm Yorke

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571173365 ISBN 13: 9780571173365

Publisher: Faber and Faber, 1997

Synopsis

Although he died more than forty years ago this is the first full-scale biography of Matthew Smith, one of the most original English figurative painters of the century. He was in his lifetime frequently, but mistakenly, seen as an English Fauve or as a disciple of Matisse, but in fact he evolved his own distinctive style independently from anything he had seen in English art schools or the French galleries. Smith was the son of a rich and cultured Yorkshire manufacturer, but soon felt impelled to rebel against the Victorian taste of his father and his class. He failed to impress tutors at the Slade, went to France to see what the modern movements there had to offer, and then returned to mingle in the circles round Sickert and Fry. His grim experiences in World War 1 forced him to sort out his priorities both as a man and an artist. Eventually, a passionate love affair in middle age enabled him to establish his own uniquely turbulent style and subject matter of still-lifes, landscapes and uninhibited nudes. Augustus John and Epstein were close friends as were many other literary and artistic figures in Paris, Provence and London. He was shaken by personal tragedies, but well into old age he seemed able to attract the love of cultivated and attractive younger women. There have been several retrospective exhibitions since his death in 1959, notably at the Royal Academy and twice at the Barbican. Dr Yorke's detailed biography traces the life and reputation of this unassuming man who 'spoke like an intelligent moth' , but who produced pictures of such rich colour and extrovert handling that they have no parallels in the history of English painting.

About this title

Synopsis

In his lifetime the painter Matthew Smith was frequently seen as an English Fauve or as a disciple of Matisse, but in fact he evolved his own distinctive style independently from anything he had seen in English art school or the French galleries. This illustrated biography looks at the influences on Smith, from the rejection of his manufacturer father's Victorian tastes, Smith's failure at the Slade, his experience of the modern movements in France, and the effects of World War I, to a passionate love affair in middle age which enabled him to establish his own turbulent style and subject matter of still lifes, landscapes and uninhibited nudes.

Edition details

• Publisher: Faber and Faber
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0571173365
• ISBN 13: 9780571173365
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288