Book Review: The Missing Matisse

The Missing Matisse is a memoir written by Pierre H. Matisse. To be honest, the first I had really heard of the name "Matisse" was in an Art Appreciation class I was taking right before this book became available for review. Since I had  just learned about Henri Matisse and his work in the field of art, I thought it would be really interesting to read this book written by his grandson, Pierre Matisse. 

Matisse writes his memoir in first person. He begins his book with his earliest memory. What exactly is that memory? Well, it is the memory of the day his younger brother was born. Although he was only 3 years old, Pierre is able to recount in great detail all that unfolded that eventful morning. Matisse continues his book by describing events that took place throughout his childhood and into his adult life. 

As expected, Pierre Matisse possessed great artistic ability, even from an early age. He took pride in his art skills and tools. He saved for different paints and utensils, and he eventually had quite an impressive collection. However, one day during an art lesson, his grandfather took away his numerous paints and instead gave him four colors. His grandfather told him that all he needed were those four colors and that he should never buy another color again. Of course, Pierre was shocked, confused, and slightly angry at his grandfather. However, he took this as a challenge and, as a result, grew in his artistic abilities. 

To be honest, I was not really sure what to expect from this book. I am not an artist, and I am not normally interested in the subject of art. However, I did find this book more interesting than I thought I would. 

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about Pierre H. Matisse. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my review. 

You can learn more about the author through this Q&A by visiting this link: http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/downloads/press_kits/Matisse_AuthorQA.pdf