LONDON, ENGLAND.-Penguin Books recently published Matisse the Master - A Life of Henri Matisse: The Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954, written by Hilary Spurling. This is the second and final volume of the first true biography of Henri Matisse. Until publication of The Unknown Matisse (Volume One), the few facts known about Matisse's life had been distorted by inaccuracy, misunderstanding and glaring gaps.

Hilary Spurling's biography investigates the secret life of Matisse, whose painting shocked and infuriated his contemporaries while paving the way for modern art, and in this second volume, she tells the story of his maturity as an artist and the relationship between his life and art between 1909 and 1954, his glory years.