The Matisse Museum (''Musée Départemental Henri Matisse'') is a museum in

Le Cateau-Cambrésis Le Cateau-Cambrésis (, before 1977: ''Le Cateau'') is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The term Cambrésis indicates that it lies in the county of that name which fell to the Prince-Bishop of Cambrai. Le Cateau station has ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

that primarily displays paintings by

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

. The museum was established by Matisse himself on 8 November 1952; he also defined the way his works should be arranged. At that time the museum was located in the wedding room of the Le Cateau City Hall. In 1956, after the death of Matisse, the collection of the museum was enlarged by the gift of 65 paintings by

Auguste Herbin Auguste Herbin (29 April 1882 – 31 January 1960) was a French painter of modern art. He is best known for his Cubist and abstract paintings consisting of colorful geometric figures. He co-founded the groups Abstraction-Création and Salon des ...

. The Museum was moved to the « Fénelon Palace » (''Palais Fénelon''), also in Le Cateau, in 1982, and its ownership was transferred by the city to the Nord department in 1992; after three years of construction and refurbishment, it reopened on 8 November 2002. The Museum now has the third largest collection of Matisse works in France. With seventeen exhibition rooms, and over a surface of about , the Museum displays more than 170 Matisse works, as well as 65 paintings by

, given by the artist, paintings by Geneviève Claisse, relative and student of Herbin, elements of the

Tériade Tériade is the pen name of Stratis (or Efstratios) Eleftheriades ( el, Στρατής Ελευθεριάδης; 2 May 1897 – 23 October 1983), a native of Mytilene who went to Paris in 1915 at the age of eighteen to study law, but who instead bec ...

collection of artists' books and 30 photographs from the

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street photography, and viewed photography as cap ...

collection. The Museum also regularly hosts temporary exhibits.

History of the Fénelon Palace

The Fénelon Palace which houses most of the museum was used as a refuge by the bishops of Cambrai. It was rebuilt during the 18th century by Théodore Brongniart who also created a monumental porch of neoclassic style. The Catesians have given it this name due to François Fénelon, who was Archbishop of Cambrai. The classical French garden of the Palace was designed by Le Nôtre. During the 19th century, the building was transformed into a cotton mill. After that, from 1878, it was bought by the city and used as a school for the children of Le Cateau and later converted to museum in 1982.

List of the works

* ''Unité'' (Unity) by Geneviève Claisse, acrylic on canvas (1969) * ''Bois sculpté'' (Sculpted wood) by

, painted wood sculpture (1921) * ''Lénine-Staline'' (Lenin - Stalin) by

, oil on canvas (1948) * ''Réalité spirituelle'' (Spiritual reality) by

, oil on canvas (1938) * ''Union'' (Union) by

, oil on canvas (1959) * ''Coquelicots et Iris II'' (Red poppies and Iris II) by

, oil on canvas * ''Étude pour La Vierge et l'enfant'' (Study for Virgin and child) by

, ink and

bodycolor Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of Pigment, natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional Chemically inert, inert material. Gouache is designe ...

on paper (1951) * ''Femme à la gandoura bleue'' (Woman in blue gandurah) by

, oil on canvas (1951) * ''Femme au chapeau'' (Woman with a hat) by

, charcoal on paper (1951) * ''Intérieur aux barres de soleil'' (Interior with sun bars) by

, oil on canvas (1942) * ''Le Violoniste'' (The violinist) by

, charcoal on canvas (1917) * ''Marguerite au chapeau de cuir'' (Marguerite with a leather hat) by

, oil on canvas (1914) * ''Nu accroupi'' (Crouching nude) by

, charcoal on paper (1936) * ''Nu rose, intérieur rouge'' (Pink nude, red interior) by

, oil on canvas (1947) * ''Tahiti II'' (Tahiti II) by

, bodycolor on canvas (1936)

Curator

In 2013, Carrie Pilto was appointed the director of the Matisse Museum. Pilto was previously a project assistant curator at the

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and wa ...

from 2007 until 2011, where she worked on "The Steins Collect," a travelling exhibition of the collection of Gertrude, Leo and Michael Stein. She took over from Dominique Szymusiak.Carrie Pilto to join Matisse Museum
''

The Art Newspaper ''The Art Newspaper'' is a monthly print publication, with daily updates online, founded in 1990 and based in London and New York City. It covers news of the visual arts as they are affected by international politics and economics, developments ...

'', 21 January 2013.

Temporary exhibits

* ''Matisse and the tissues' colors'', 2004 * '' Rouault, correspondances avec Matisse'', from March 25 to June 17, 2007 * ''

Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

and

, l'empreinte d'un peintre'', from November 18, 2006 to February 26, 2007 * ''Weaving Matisse'', 2014.

Gallery

File:Musée Matisse002.jpg File:MuséeDépartementalHenriMatisseLeCatteau-Cambrésis.jpg File:Musée Matisse019.jpg File:Musée Matisse024.jpg

References