The unknown Matisse : man of the north 1869-1908

'Hilary Spurling's "The Unknown Matisse" is a truly wonderful biography.

Her prose is muscular, rhythmical, carrying a lot of information, yet swift, enthralling.

She has done for Matisse what George Painter famously did for Proust in the 1950s.

Besides being a first-rate scholar, she is an artist in narrative who has unearthed a fascinating story and told it brilliantly.

I rate this first volume with the first volume of Richard Holmes' "Coleridge".

Both books mark a climax in what has been called a golden age of modern biography which began with Richard Ellman's "James Joyce".

It is a terrific achievement' - Michael Holroyd.