Matisse’s Garden

Joining a spate of recent picture books about Matisse that includes The Iridescence of Birds, Henri’s Scissors, and Colorful Dreamer, this collaboration between Friedman, an assistant curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and Milan-based illustrator Amodeo, focuses on the artist’s exploration of cut-paper collage. Amodeo uses the same medium for her illustrations, which echo the simplified forms and bright colors Matisse played with; she pictures the artist in a brown button-down shirt, his blank face defined by a broad beard and large eyeglasses. Friedman’s crisp writing highlights the importance of trial and error (“He cut leaves of other hues and set them against backgrounds of every shade, experimenting with different harmonies and contrasts”). She also devotes welcome attention to Matisse’s assistants: in one clever scene, three workers use large brushes to paint sheets of paper yellow, violet, and green, their movements echoing those of the figures in Matisse’s La Danse. Eight reproductions of Matisse’s cut-paper work appear throughout, some on gatefolds, and a brief biography closes out this strong study of an artist’s thought processes and growth. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)