LAST LIGHT

A leading art critic examines the lives of artists who started down a new path in their later years.

In these six illuminating portraits—of Titian, Goya, Monet, Matisse, Edward Hopper, and Louise Nevelson—Lacayo, the former longtime art and architecture critic for Time, pays particular attention to the influences that their later work exerted. “Old age can be no less liberating, if it brings with it the confidence to try new things,” writes the author. “Young artists may experiment because they have nothing to lose. More established ones can do the same because they have nothing to fear.” Titian abandoned the polished surfaces of his classic style and adopted a free-flowing method, with heavy pigment used to inject texture and dynamism. Goya’s series of late works, known as the Black Paintings because of their psychological, nightmarish intensity, opened the way for the imaginary to be used as subject matter. Monet’s massive panels of water lilies emphasized color and tone over structure and perspective, influencing a generation of abstractionists. Matisse, who struggled with mobility issues caused by complications from surgery for abdominal cancer, embarked on a new style of drawing and created a remarkable series of works using cut-out colored paper, showing how simple forms could yield complex meanings. In his final decade, Hopper created surreal paintings, moving decidedly away from his earlier emphasis on realism. His landscapes became simplified and dislocated, and one of his most interesting late works depicts only columns of sunlight in an empty room. Nevelson had built her reputation on complex pieces for gallery spaces before making a radical shift toward large-scale works for urban landscapes. Lacayo provides a biography of each artist and reproductions of crucial works, showing how they arrived at their late-life transition. Through these vivid minibios, the author shows that it is never too late to find a different way of looking at the world.

A fascinating book written with the authority that comes with a great depth of knowledge.