Matisse museum

The Matisse Museum (Musée Départemental Henri Matisse) is a museum in Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France, the birthplace of Henri Matisse, dedicated primarily to the artist's work. Established by Matisse himself in 1952, it is the only museum created by the painter during his lifetime. It holds the third largest collection of Matisse works in France and is officially designated as a "musée de France."

The museum originated from efforts by local notables who sought to create a museum devoted to modern art and to Le Cateau-Cambrésis's most famous native son. They met Matisse in the south of France to request that he dedicate reproductions of two paintings; during this encounter, Matisse promised to donate works if a suitable venue could be found. The museum opened on 8 November 1952 in the presence of the director of the Musées de France. Matisse, then elderly and in fragile health, did not attend but sent a message read at the inauguration; two of his children represented him, and his close collaborator Lydia Délectorskaya supervised the initial installation. Matisse died in 1954 without ever visiting the museum he had founded.

In 1956, following Matisse's death, the collection was enlarged by a gift of 65 paintings from Auguste Herbin, a native of Cambrésis who had spent part of his childhood in Le Cateau. The museum moved to the Palais Fénelon in 1982 at the initiative of senator-mayor Roland Grimaldi, who sought more appropriate quarters. Ownership was transferred from the city to the Nord department in 1992, making it a departmental museum. After three years of construction and refurbishment, it reopened on 8 November 2002. An extension designed by architect Bernard Desmoulin added 1,000 square metres to the building; following eighteen months of closure, the museum reopened on 23 November 2024.

The museum presents one of the most important collections of Matisse's work in the world, spanning his entire career. The Matisse collection comprises 783 works: 26 paintings, 21 sculptures, 479 drawings, 220 prints, 32 illustrated books, one stained-glass window, and 19 personal objects. The Herbin collection consists of 92 works, including 33 paintings, 2 sculptures, 39 drawings, 13 prints, one stained-glass window, one piano, two painted stools, and 3 personal objects. The Tériade donation, received in 2008, added 590 works: 26 paintings, 8 sculptures, one stained-glass window, 2 ceramics, 5 drawings, and 72 books, featuring works by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, Georges Rouault, Fernand Léger, and Alberto Giacometti, including the "salle à manger de Tériade" decorated by Matisse and Giacometti. The museum also holds works by Geneviève Claisse, relative and student of Herbin, and 30 photographs from the Henri Cartier-Bresson collection. Personal objects of Matisse include his paint palette, a violin, and articles of clothing.

Among the notable Matisse works on display are: "Coquelicots et Iris II" (oil on canvas); "Étude pour La Vierge et l'enfant" (ink and bodycolor on paper, 1951); "Femme à la gandoura bleue" (oil on canvas, 1951); "Femme au chapeau" (charcoal on paper, 1951); "Intérieur aux barres de soleil" (oil on canvas, 1942); "Le Violoniste" (charcoal on canvas, 1917); "Marguerite au chapeau de cuir" (oil on canvas, 1914); "Nu accroupi" (charcoal on paper, 1936); "Nu rose, intérieur rouge" (oil on canvas, 1947); and "Tahiti II" (bodycolor on canvas, 1936). Other significant works include "Autoportrait" (oil on canvas, 1918), "Collioure, rue du Soleil" (oil on canvas, 1905), "La Liseuse" (oil on panel, 1896), and the four original plaster casts of the "Nus de dos" bas-reliefs.

The Herbin holdings include "Bois sculpté" (painted wood sculpture, 1921), "Lénine-Staline" (oil on canvas, 1948), "Réalité spirituelle" (oil on canvas, 1938), and "Union" (oil on canvas, 1959). Geneviève Claisse is represented by "Unité" (acrylic on canvas, 1969).

The museum is housed in the Palais Fénelon, an 18th-century building with a long and varied history. The site has been used by the archbishops of Cambrai since the 11th century and served as a refuge for the bishops of Cambrai during the Middle Ages. It takes its name from François Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai from 1695 to 1715. The palace was rebuilt in the 18th century by Théodore Brongniart, who created its monumental neoclassical portal. After the French Revolution, it served as an Austrian barracks, then was purchased in 1812 by an entrepreneur who established a cotton spinning mill and weaving looms. The city bought it in 1883 and used it as a school, a covered market, and a public garden. The building and its park were listed as supplementary historic monuments in 1944. The classical French garden was designed by Le Nôtre. The 2024 extension incorporated the adjacent former covered market, whose facade was preserved by Bernard Desmoulin.

The Matisse Museum is located in Le Cateau-Cambrésis in the Nord department of northern France. Since 1992 it has been owned by the Nord department. The museum occupies approximately 4,600 square metres, expanded to 5,000 square metres with the 2024 reopening. It comprises seventeen exhibition rooms, including a 500-square-metre temporary exhibition space. The museum regularly hosts temporary exhibitions; past shows include "Matisse and the tissues' colors" (2004), "Chagall et Tériade, l'empreinte d'un peintre" (18 November 2006-26 February 2007), "Rouault, correspondances avec Matisse" (25 March, 17 June 2007), and "Weaving Matisse" (2014). Carrie Pilto was appointed director in 2013, succeeding Dominique Szymusiak; Patrice Deparpe became director in 2014. The museum's website is https://museematisse.fr.