Paul Matisse (born 1933) is an artist and inventor known for his public art installations, many of which are interactive and produce sound. Matisse also invented the Kalliroscope.

Early life and education

Paul Matisse is the son of New York gallery owner Pierre Matisse (the youngest son of painter

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

) and Alexina Sattler. His mother later divorced Pierre and married artist

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, ; ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, Futurism and conceptual art. He is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Pica ...

, becoming Alexina "Teeny" Duchamp. Thus Paul is both grandson of

, and the stepson of

. In 1954, Matisse graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. Matisse studied at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, and worked briefly with

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

Artistic career

Matisse worked in product development for Arthur D. Little. In 1962 he set off on his own, inventing (1966), patenting (1968), and ultimately manufacturing Kalliroscopes, which can display the complex and otherwise-invisible flow of liquids. After the death of his stepfather

in 1968, Matisse worked with his widowed mother Alexina "Teeny" Duchamp and curator

Anne d'Harnoncourt Anne Julie d'Harnoncourt (September 7, 1943 – June 1, 2008) was an American curator, museum director, and art historian specializing in modern art. She was the director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA), a post she held from 19 ...

to implement the posthumous installation of Duchamp's artwork ''

Étant donnés ''Étant donnés'' (''Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas'', French: ''Étant donnés: 1° la chute d'eau / 2° le gaz d'éclairage'') is a 1966 assemblage by Marcel Duchamp. It was his last major artwork, surprising viewers and cri ...

'' at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

Personal life

Matisse currently resides in a former Baptist church in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. An affluent bedroom community roughly 45 miles from Boston, Groton has a ...

. His daughter Sophie Matisse is an artist in New York City. His son, Alex Matisse, is a pottery artist and founder of East Fork Pottery in North Carolina. His granddaughter is actress Gaïa Jacquet-Matisse.

Selected public artworks

File:Japanese American Memorial Bell.jpg, ''National Japanese American Memorial Bell'' (2001) File:Kendall Square station - Cambridge, MA - DSC05741.jpg, ''Kendall Band'' (1987) File:Calder+Mobile.jpg, ''Calder Mobile'' (1977) *''Meditation Bell'' (2012) – exhibited at Chateau la Coste in 2018 *''Olympic Bell'' (2004) – installation for the Athens Olympic Games *''Charlestown Bells'' (2000) – interactive musical sculpture on the

Charles River Dam The Charles River Dam is a flood control structure on the Charles River in Boston, Massachusetts, located just downstream of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, near Lovejoy Wharf, on the former location of the Warren Bridge. His ...

between downtown

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown *''Memorial Bell'' (2001) – at the National Japanese-American Memorial to Patriotism in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

*''Forest Bells'' (1997) – six vertical aluminum bells hanging from the limbs of oak trees on Groton Conservation Trust property in

*''

Kendall Band The ''Kendall Band'' is a three-part musical sculpture created between 1986 and 1988 by Paul Matisse, who is the grandson of French artist Henri Matisse and stepson of surrealist artist Marcel Duchamp.Christopher Reed"Pure Fabrication". ''Harvard ...

'' (1987) – interactive musical sculpture in the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

's Kendall/MIT subway station in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

*''Musical Fence'' (1980) – interactive musical sculpture once located in

, and now installed at the DeCordova Museum in

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base who live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWe ...

. Another version is at the Montshire Museum of Science in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. *''Untitled (1976)'' –

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

's last major artwork, posthumously modified for installation by Paul Matisse

References

External links

Artist's personal website
1933 births Living people American artists American people of French descent Harvard University alumni Henri Matisse

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

People from Groton, Massachusetts {{US-artist-stub