The Unknown Matisse by Hilary Spurling (Penguin, £12.99 in UK)

Unlike Picasso, Matisse was a slow, late starter. An innate traditionalist, he became an innovator and even a revolutionary through a slow process of discovery which went on for most of his life. The Matisse we meet in this well-written biographical study is an unsure provincial from Normandy fighting hard to survive, and hampered by his in-laws' innocent involvement in a financial scandal. He was, however, a strong and stable character with shrewd judgment - in fact, very much the French bourgeois at his most pragmatic and flexible. The later chapters show him moving into Fauvism and a prominent position in the avant-garde, with the Stein family as powerful patrons and sponsors. This elegantly written book is also well illustrated.