Composed of 59 works from every stage of the artist’s career, it is among the most important in the world. At its heart are Matisse’s most historically significant paintings, Le Bonheur de vivre, also known as The Joy of Life, and The Dance, the monumental mural that Albert C. Barnes commissioned to fill the lunettes of the Foundation’s main gallery, transforming both the space and the artist’s career.

Yve-Alain Bois addresses the evolution of The Dance and its role in Matisse’s career; Karen Butler explores Barnes’s opinion of Matisse; and Claudine Grammont considers how and why he collected his work.

The artworks themselves, sumptuously reproduced, are the subjects of interpretive analyses that tell the stories of their acquisition and address their critical reception. The book includes major contributions by Barbara Buckley and Jennifer Mass on the artist’s technique and a report on the latest findings on the pigments used in Le Bonheur de vivre.