Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The Missing Matisse
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 2/1/1928
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
http://www.momsplans.com/2016/12/missing-matisse-pierre-h-matisse-book-review/ * http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/downloads/press_kits/Matisse_AuthorQA.pdf
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2016037550
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2016037550
HEADING: Matisse, Pierre H., 1928-
000 00712nz a2200145n 450
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008 160711n| azannaabn n aaa
010 __ |a n 2016037550
040 __ |a DLC |b eng |e rda |c DLC
046 __ |f 1928-02-01 |2 edtf
100 1_ |a Matisse, Pierre H., |d 1928-
370 __ |a Paris (France) |2 naf
670 __ |a The missing Matisse, 2016: |b CIP t.p. (Pierre H. Matisse) galley (I am ReneÌ Pierre Louis Henri Matisse; father, Jean Matisse, is a sculptor, and my mother, Louise Milhau Matisse, is a talented painter and ceramist)
670 __ |a Pierre H. Matisse website, July 11, 2016 |b (Pierre H. Matisse (grandson of modern master Henri Matisse); born to artist parents in Paris on February 1st, 1928)
PERSONAL
Born February 1, 1928, in Paris, France; immigrated to United States; son of Jean and Louise Matisse.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Artist and photographer.
MIILITARY:Served in the French Resistance during World War II.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Pierre H. Matisse is the grandson of the great French painter Henri Matisse and the author of the memoir The Missing Matisse. “He grew up immersed in the world of art,” stated the author of a short biography appearing in Art Licensing. “Pierre’s childhood involved the artistic life of Paris and the French Riviera. The Matisse family often moved, ‘entourage’ from one location to another, in France and Spain during his early years. He had the opportunity to meet and spend time among some of the most famous artists of this century.” Later he served as a member of the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation forces during the Second World War. “Getting a view of World War II through the eyes of a child growing up during occupied France, who also worked with the resistance,” said a reviewer for the Walking with Jesus website, “gives the reader a unique picture of that time period. He and his family lived through, and survived, many perilous incidents.”
Perhaps the most interesting moment in young Mastisse’s life came toward the beginning of the war. “My mother told me when I was twelve years old that my last name is Leroy,” Matisse explained in an interview found on the Tyndale Momentum website. “Later, my grandmother Leroy tells me that I am not her grandson; I am a Matisse. At the end of the war, the man who is supposedly my father–Camille Leroy–confirms what his mother had told me.” “The facts were that my mother, after twenty years of marriage to Jean Matisse, had left him just months before she died,” Matiss told his Tyndale Momentum website interviewer. “The Matisse family was rich and when any of them were ill, they were treated at the American Hospital, the best hospital in Paris at the time. My mother was not sent there. She died in a common room with no privacy, in the most abject conditions. She was screaming in agony from unbearable pain. I loved my mother dearly and am thankful I was able to be with her in her dying moments.”
Critics enjoyed Matisse’s account of his early life. “I love reading true stories about every day citizens who were swept up in the war and what their experience was,” declared a Mom’s Plans website reviewer. “While I’ve read many, many stories of Holocaust survivors, I also enjoy reading about those who were not Jewish but still suffered greatly under occupation.” “For the most part,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “the author captures his teenage voice and perspective, imbuing the memoir with the tone of a picaresque novel. He portrays himself as daring, sassy, and curious.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 15, 2016, review of The Missing Matisse.
Publishers Weekly, September 12, 2016, review of The Missing Matisse, p. 52.
ONLINE
Art Licensing, http://www.artlicensing.com/ (July 5, 2017), author profile.
Erikson Living, https://www.ericksonliving.com/ (January 9, 2017), Michael G. Williams, “Pierre Henri Matisse: More Than a Chip off the Old Block.”
Mom’s Plans, http://www.momsplans.com/ (December 15, 2016), review of The Missing Matisse.
Tyndale Momentum, http://mediacenter.tyndale.com/ (July 5, 2017), author interview.
Walking with Jesus, http://bookreadingtic.com/ (January 1, 2017), review of The Missing Matisse.*
Pierre Henri Matisse
More than a chip off the old block
Michael G. Williams
January 9th, 2017
As an artist, Pierre Matisse developed a style based on a blend of influences, including his grandfather’s work and his experiences during World War II.
To say that he’s related to someone famous is an understatement; and the second you learn his name, you know why.
Pierre Henri Matisse is, in many ways, the living embodiment of the artistic master whom he called grandfather. Still, this 88-year-old scion has lived an exciting and meaningful life in its own right, apart from the shadow cast by his celebrated surname.
He fought the Nazis with the French resistance during World War II, made a career as an artist and photographer, and traveled to the U.S. in pursuit of the American dream.
He looks back on these experiences in his memoir The Missing Matisse (Tyndale Momentum, 2016).
Tribune: Not many people can lay claim to a lineage like yours. Did you know that your grandfather was famous?
Matisse: I was just a boy. To me, my grandfather was like anyone else. What was funny about him was that he had very little leisure time.
Contrary to what some people think, serious artists live a demanding life. Their work eats them alive.
My grandfather was a fanatic about his art. He was always working. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing him without a brush, a pencil, or a piece of charcoal in his hand.
Tribune: How did your grandfather contribute to your own development as an artist?
Matisse: My grandfather didn’t believe that one could teach art; you have the talent that you have and you cultivate it on your own.
He would, however, give people advice, and I remember one occasion in particular.
When I was about 12, I was very interested in painting. I believed that the more colors a painter had, the better he was.
I gradually built up a large collection of colors, which I kept in a shoebox. One day, when I visited my grandfather in his studio, I brought this box full of different paints.
I was confident that I was really going to impress him. “Oh, he is a big-time artist,” I imagined him saying about me.
So, he opened up my box of colors and looked at it for a moment. Then he chose four tubes and said to me, “Pierre, I am confiscating the rest of these paint colors. The four I’ve chosen are all that you will need.”
And that was the end of the lesson. [LAUGHS]
Tribune: Did you follow his advice?
Matisse: Not at first, no. I thought he was crazy.
But over the years, I began to realize that he was right. What seems like a very few colors can be mixed to make new colors, and that’s what he did with his artwork. And that is basically what I do with mine.
Tribune: Apart from having a famous grandfather, you yourself have had some incredible experiences throughout your life, which you explore in detail in the book—especially during World War II.
Matisse: Yes, my father, Jean Matisse, and I assisted both the British intelligence service and the French underground by helping spies.
When the Germans took France in 1940, we were living in Toulouse, which wasn’t far from the French Riviera, where France’s Navy fleet was anchored. When the Germans tried to take these ships, the French sailors scuttled them and went to link up with the underground.
They had to travel in secrecy to avoid detection, and our home was one of the waypoints where they could find cover.
My father and I also helped in the resistance movement. We were armed with machine guns, grenades, and a shortwave radio that enabled us to listen to broadcasts from London, some of which contained codes that were meant for members of the French resistance.
Merely possessing the radio could have gotten you executed by the Gestapo, so we were taking significant risks at a very treacherous time.
Tribune: But art has always been a part of your life.
Matisse: Definitely. I came to the United States several years after the war, and worked as a photographer. I also continued painting and have been doing so my whole life.
Tribune: Did the war influence you as an artist?
Matisse: Very much so. Living under Nazi occupation in France enhanced my appreciation for freedom.
The Jews were persecuted, certain books were banned, and my country was no longer my own. You couldn’t think for yourself.
When you go through that, you grow to love freedom.
To me, art represents freedom—freedom of thought, freedom of expression—and that’s why I love America so much.
Tribune: That sentiment aptly summarizes the spirit of your memoir. What do you hope readers will take away from your story?
Matisse: Well, I’m in my late 80s, and most everyone hopes that they’ve done something worthwhile with their life. So, in part, I thought it was time to tell my story.
But for me personally, this book forced me to reflect on my own life, which is what I think all memoirs should do. If I learned anything about myself while writing, it is that I am a survivor.
I hope that this alone is an inspiration to readers.
Who is Pierre Matisse? The answer seems to be as complex as his life. With a most extraordinary view of the world, Pierre has brought his journey into focus using art to express his varied experiences. Having lived the entire spectrum of emotions, it is no surprise that his work reflects passion, beauty, joy, love and freedom. One is drawn to Pierre's work because of its intensity, power and depth of color, however on closer inspection, the drama of the scene plays out until it feels as though you are part of the picture. As with most projects, first there needs to be an idea. In this particular instance Pierre H. Matisse, The Idea Man, is also an integral part of the story.
Pierre was born to artist parents in Paris on February 1st, 1928. His father, Jean Matisse, was a sculptor, his mother, Louise Milhau, was a painter, sculptor and ceramist. He grew up immersed in the world of art, being the grandson of Henri Matisse. Pierre's childhood involved the artistic life of Paris and the French Riviera. The Matisse family often moved, "entourage" from one location to another, in France and Spain during his early years. He had the opportunity to meet and spend time among some of the most famous artists of this century, Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Aristide Maillol, Jean Effel, Salvador Dali, Pierre Bonnard, Marcel Duchamp, Henri Matisse, Fernand Leger, Maurice De Vlaminck and Auguste Lumière.
As a teenager, he was involved in a world that dealt with cruelty, intrigue, horror, and the destruction of war. Both Pierre and his father, Jean Matisse, were heavily involved in French underground activities. Before the war ended, his grandmother and aunt had been imprisoned for their subversive activities. Both Pierre, and his father, were on the run from the Nazis for their efforts in aiding the British spies and saboteurs. Occasionally they engaged in their own sabotage efforts. Some of these stories are amazing!
At the age of sixteen, on D-Day, during the invasion, Pierre found himself in Normandy forty miles from the landing beaches. For weeks he was caught in the German lines. Next, in no-man's land, between the allies and the Nazis forces trying to get back to the British. Once liberated, he served as translator between the British and French authorities. He then volunteered, serving in co-operation with the British military transport, to repatriate the French civilian refugees displaced by the Normandy battle.
When the war ended, he worked in the restoration of the art and historical monuments damaged by the war in France. At nineteen, he volunteered for a French commando paratrooper outfit, engaged in North Africa. Half of his group was sent to Indochina. Pierre fought in Algeria. Eventually earning a PhD. in antique furniture restoration and authentification after his return from duty.
He is quite an adventurer, both a sailor and a pilot. He dreaded the memory of war, and in the early 50's struck out to Canada with his family. He was a settler in the wilderness of the Canadian frontier. Now as a citizen of the United States, Pierre is international in his thinking with ties to France and Canada. He has a variety of societies in his ancestry: French, some traceable back to Charlemagne, German and Spanish, in fact some of his ancestors were Mediterranean pirates.
Pierre is a man who has not lost the sense of wonder of life, inquisitive, full of energy and open to every possibility, sure in his knowledge of himself, truly his own self.
As an artist, Pierre has always pursued his work in a generous manner. Giving an entire series of Florida landscapes to the Deland Museum, which have become a part of their permanent collection. These paintings were executed in the 70's to record, for future generations, an ecology on the St John's River that is quickly disappearing. He has also given or created commissioned pieces to help many other organizations such as Project Hope, The American Red Cross, Variety Clubs International, The National Epilepsy Foundation, Music Educators National Conference and Fame, UNICEF Orphans foundation, The Sunrise Children’s Hospital of Las Vegas, The Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital, The Denver Children’s Hospital, Make-A-Wish Foundation, A Community of Angels, The United Nation’s Women’s Guild, Code Amber Organization, The Boggy Creek Gang, The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang and many others.
Pierre Matisse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pierre Matisse (June 13, 1900 – August 10, 1989) was a French born American art dealer active in New York City. He was the youngest child of French painter Henri Matisse.
Contents [hide]
1 Background and early years
2 The Pierre Matisse Gallery
3 Family
4 References
5 Sources
6 External links
Background and early years[edit]
Pierre Matisse was born in Bohain-en-Vermandois on June 13, 1900. He exhibited an early interest in the art market, and took a job at the prestigious Galerie Barbazanges-Hodebert in Paris. In 1924, Pierre came to New York, where he began a distinguished career of 65 years as an art dealer.
The Pierre Matisse Gallery[edit]
In 1931, Matisse opened his own gallery in the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street in New York City. The Pierre Matisse Gallery, which existed until his death in 1989, became an influential part of the Modern Art movement in America. Matisse represented and exhibited many European artists and a few Americans and Canadians in New York, often for the first time. Matisse exhibited Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Jean Dubuffet, André Derain, Yves Tanguy, Le Corbusier, Paul Delvaux, Wifredo Lam, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Balthus, Leonora Carrington, Zao Wou Ki, Sam Francis, sculptors Theodore Roszak, Raymond Mason and Reg Butler, and several other important artists, including Henri Matisse.[1][2]
Family[edit]
Matisse was married three times. His first marriage, to Alexina "Teeny" Sattler (later Alexina Duchamp), produced three children: Paul Matisse, a painter/inventor; Jacqueline, and Peter. In 1949 they separated and Matisse married Patricia Kane Matta, the former wife of surrealist painter Roberto Matta.[3] They were married until her death in 1972. In 1974, Matisse married Countess Maria-Gaetana "Tana" Matisse, the daughter of German diplomat Count Karl von Spreti. They remained married until his death on August 10, 1989 in St. Jean Cap Ferrat, France.
The Missing Matisse
Publishers Weekly.
263.37 (Sept. 12, 2016): p52.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Missing Matisse
Pierre H. Matisse. Tyndale Momentum, $22.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-49641-383-3
Matisse, grandson of painter Henri Matisse and son of sculptor Jean Matisse, believes that ."creating is a part of my spiritual DNA." This debut
memoir details his search for identity, which, in turn, produced a deeper yearning for spiritual connection. Shuttling between Paris and the French
countryside for much of his childhood, he developed a love of photography and boats, and during World War II he carried messages and forged
documents for the French Resistance. At age 12, Matisse was informed by his mother, Louise, that his name was legally Pierre Leroy. He sensed
a shameful secret but didn't learn the details until years later: while married to Camille Leroy, Louise had an affair with Jean Matisse--Pierre's
birth father. She and Camille divorced just after Pierre's birth, but Camille bitterly insisted on keeping the boy linked to him. Recreated dialogue
and present-tense narration enliven the high-action scenes of the war years, but the memoir's final sections sprint through seven more decades,
including emigration to North America, various careers, and four marriages. Matisse, now a retired painter and paper collagist based in Florida,
came late to the Christian faith. His hunt for his parentage, culminating in the decision to reclaim the Matisse name in his 60s, nicely parallels his
search for identity in Christ. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Missing Matisse." Publishers Weekly, 12 Sept. 2016, p. 52. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA464046307&it=r&asid=4f69a4bc95efd6ec33e5e933c363275b. Accessed 11 June
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A464046307
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6/11/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
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Pierre H. Matisse: THE MISSING MATISSE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Sept. 15, 2016):
COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Pierre H. Matisse THE MISSING MATISSE Tyndale House (Adult Nonfiction) 22.99 11, 1 ISBN: 978-1496413833
The grandson of artist Henri Matisse (1869-1954) recalls his adolescence in Nazi-occupied France.Most of Matisse’s debut memoir
focuses on his experiences during World War II, when he abetted his father’s underground missions; attended schools where he suffered
from lice, bullies, and censorious administrators; and nearly starved on meager food rations. In Paris, he sometimes got vitamin cookies from the
Red Cross, donated by American Quakers. His clothing was “a hodgepodge of hand-me-downs” that he quickly outgrew. For
the most part, the author captures his teenage voice and perspective, imbuing the memoir with the tone of a picaresque novel. He portrays himself
as daring, sassy, and curious. His curiosity makes all the more unbelievable the mystery at the heart of the book: the missing Matisse of the title, it
turns out, is not one of his grandfather’s paintings but the author’s identity. When he was 12, before enrolling him in a
boarding school, his mother told him that he was to be known by another surname, not Matisse, adding no explanation. Nor did the author ask
about this sudden change even though he forthrightly asked about much else. He wondered if he was really the son of the man he called Papa,
whom he respected and loved. After the vivid chapters that take place during the war, the narrative loses momentum. While living in Normandy,
Matisse learned that his parents divorced, which shocked him, but his mother offered little explanation. A few weeks later he got word that his
mother was dying, destitute, in a run-down hospital, an incredible fate for the daughter-in-law of France’s most famous artist. But again,
there was no explanation. Inexplicably estranged from his once-adored Papa, Matisse, married, moved to Canada and later the United States. He
divorced three times and finally met the love of his life. A candid portrayal of wartime privations is followed by a blur of unexamined events.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Pierre H. Matisse: THE MISSING MATISSE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Sept. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA463216052&it=r&asid=dbf473fbf690f30aad3edc7045fbc90b. Accessed 11 June
2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A463216052
“The Missing Matisse: A Memoir” by Pierre H. Matisse
Posted on January 1, 2017 by Becky
Rubbing Shoulders with Famous Artists, Fighting Nazis, and Finding God
Imagine growing up in France while it is occupied by the Nazis during World War II. Or perhaps imagine growing up rubbing shoulders with some of the most famous artists of the 20th century such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Pierre Matisse experienced both those scenarios, plus a whole lot more, and this is the true story of his fascinating life.
Pierre’s family was artistic on both his mother and father’s sides, and Henri Matisse was his grandfather. When the war began, Pierre’s affluent father Jean Matisse, known as Papa, took part in a lot of dangerous, underground activities. Even though Pierre was very young at the war’s outbreak, his Papa began including Pierre in many of the clandestine pursuits. As the war stretched on, and daily food became scarce, Pierre took on even more hazardous work in order to eat. He also describes what it was like when the allies arrived in France and started freeing villages, including the one he was living in.
When Pierre was still a child, he received some shocking information. He was told that Jean Matisse was not actually his father, that his last name was Leroy, and he should use that name from then on. Meeting his grandparents from the Leroy family literally saved his life. However, Pierre relates the negative effects the name change had on him, and that it continued for decades.
Pierre recounts his journey to know God in a personal way, and how he was ultimately baptized by Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty television fame. He tells of the surprising friendship that developed between himself and the Robertson family because of his wife’s chance viewing of an episode of the show.
Getting a view of World War II through the eyes of a child growing up during occupied France, who also worked with the resistance, gives the reader a unique picture of that time period. He and his family lived through, and survived, many perilous incidents–clearly a case of God having His hand on them. Pierre’s memoir of his interesting life is very easy to read. The uplifting journey he made to God is both encouraging and heartwarming, as well as, an answer to his wife’s prayers. I recommend this five-star volume to anyone who likes true life stories, World War II tales, or books written from a Christian perspective.
Tyndale House Publishing has provided bookreadingtic with a complimentary copy of The Missing Matisse: A Memoir, for the purpose of review. I have not been compensated in any other manner. All opinions expressed are my own, and I was not required, or influenced, to give anything but an honest appraisal. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
The Missing Matisse by Pierre H. Matisse: A Book Review
Posted on December 15, 2016 Written by Melissa Leave a Comment
I love reading about World War II. I don’t read about the soldiers too much or the war strategies. Instead, I love reading true stories about every day citizens who were swept up in the war and what their experience was. While I’ve read many, many stories of Holocaust survivors, I also enjoy reading about those who were not Jewish but still suffered greatly under occupation.
This post contains affiliate links which help support Mom’s Plans.
The Missing Matisse by Pierre H. Matisse is one of those stories with a twist. The author is the grandson of famed artist Henri Matisse.
Pierre Matisse was born in 1928. While the beginning of the book covers his time spent in France and Spain and the time he visits his famous grandfather and gets a surprise art lesson, the bulk of the book covers his experience in World War II.
Pierre was just 11 when his father signed up for the war and told Pierre he’d have to be the man of the family, taking care of his mother and his younger brother, Gerard. However, Pierre, a mischievous child, frequently spends time away from his mother and brother. He stays in Paris with his beloved aunt, Tata, and he spends time in boarding schools.
His father is taken as a prisoner of war and manages to escape. Pierre and his mother and brother manage to leave occupied France to travel to unoccupied France to reunite with Pierre’s father.
However, the family is not reunited long as Pierre is once again shipped off. Reading the book, I felt sorry for Pierre who never spends much of his childhood with his family. Instead, he is in a variety of bordering schools and staying with Tata and later a family called the Leroys.
When Pierre is 12, his surname is changed from Matisse to Leroy. His mother explains that it’s for his protection when he enters a new boarding school. The change in name makes Pierre feel alienated from his family and confused. Little does he know that this feeling will last until his late 60s when he finally changes his name back to Matisse. Over the years, he learns the story behind the name change, but that just seems to lead to more confusion for him.
Overall, I loved this book and highly recommend it. However, there were some things that confused me. One thing I found peculiar is that Pierre’s father, once he escapes, never goes back to the war. Is he discharged? Is he AWOL? Why does he not go back to the war as a healthy and able soldier? Also, Pierre’s family seems to have great difficulty communicating. There is a huge secret in this family, and no one seems able to talk about it. I would have liked to have known why they were so secretive and why Pierre eventually seems to cut off all contact, though not necessarily intentionally, with his family.
While I loved the book, I would have appreciated having a further explanation for some aspects. Having said that, the author does offer a Q & A that helps explain some of these mysteries.
I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars on the Mom’s Plans’ scale.
Q & A with Pierre Henri Matisse
Author of The Missing Matisse
Pierre Henri Matisse Was born in Paris in 1928. Brought up as the grandson of Henri Matisse, Pierre spent his childhood among some of the most famous artists of the century, including Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. During WWII, Pierre and his father, Jean Matisse, were heavily involved in French underground activities, wanted by the Nazis for their efforts in aiding the British spies and saboteurs. When the war ended, Pierre worked in the restoration of the art and historical monuments damaged by the war in France. Now a citizen of the United States, he is an artist who has given or created commissioned pieces to help organizations such as Project Hope, The American Red Cross, numerous children’s hospitals, and many others.
1. What prompted you to write this book at this time in your life?
My parents did not tell me much about their lives. I want my children to know about mine.
2. What is your hope for this book?
I love books, and I have loved to read all my life. Books are where I learned what I know - from other people’s life experiences. In hard times books have been my best friends, my source of inspiration. I want my book to be an inspiration, a story about survival no matter what, showing how I relied on courage, faith, hope and love.
3. When and where were you born?
I was born in Paris, on the first of February, 1928.
4. Tell us about spending with your grandfather, Henri Matisse. Did you know then that he was a famous artist?
I did not spend much time with him, because he was immersed in his art and living in Nice on the French Riviera, while I was living in Paris. As a child, I had no idea my grandfather was famous until the day he came to visit us in Paris and took me to a jazz concert starring Django Reinhardt. I love music, especially jazz. After the concert Grandfather Matisse told me that Django was one of his friends, and asked me if I wanted to meet him. I answered with an enthusiastic 'yes'! From that day on, I knew that my grandfather Henri had to be very famous if he could access famous people and call them his friend.
5. You are an artist in your own right, can you tell us about the color lesson you received from your grandfather, Henri Matisse, when you were young?
My mother who graduated from the prestigious Beaux Arts art school in Paris, had tried to teach me everything about colors to no avail. I could not figure out her complicated color theory. So when we visited Nice during the summer of 1939, she arranged a color lesson for me with Grandfather Matisse. My idea about colors was that the more color tubes an artist owns the more
Margie Watterson | margiewatterson@tyndale.com | 630.784.5174
fabulous a painter he is. So I came to my grandfather with a big box full of color tubes I had purchased with my own money that I had saved. Obviously I was going to impress him with my color arsenal. I had even memorized the fancy names so I could speak color jargon like a pro. Grandfather welcomed me into his studio with a charcoal in his hand and asked me to put my big box on a table. He foraged through the box taking out tubes of vermillion, ultramarine blue, yellow, and white. As he handed me these four colors, he said “From now on, paint with these four colors - rouge, bleu, jaune, et blanc. I am confiscating this box and forbid you to buy any other colors than these four. Now go and paint. Convey my love to your mother and father.” End of the color lesson. On my way back, I thought that Grandfather was losing it. How could a talented artist like me possibly turn out masterpieces with these ridiculous four colors? After I reflected, I decided to give it a try to prove to him that I could paint good stuff no matter what. Well, my painting skills improved drastically. Grandfather Matisse used to say, “I paint with simple colors.” To this day, I follow his advice.
6. Can you talk about your memories of WWII and the time you spent with your father, Jean Matisse, in the French Underground?
My father was involved with British intelligence, assisting British spies. On more than one occasion, we set out in a small boat and rendezvoused with a British submarine off Cap d' Antibes on the French Riviera. We brought British spies ashore and hid them in our home. During the winter of 1943, I was an apprentice illustrator at a print shop. On the side, I helped a secret printing business and made false papers, passes, and fake IDs. On D-Day, I was living in Normandy and when the Nazis began to be pushed back to the Allies, I had encounters with them that should have gotten me killed. It is a miracle that we all survived the war.
7. When you were twelve-years-old, your mother said you needed to stop answering to the name Matisse and to go by the name Leroy instead. Then she sent you away to boarding school. Can you discuss the impact that had on you? Did you feel abandoned?
First, I did not blame my mother or anybody else. It was war time, and war was being fought in our backyard. My parents had a delicate problem to navigate and they did the best they could under the circumstances. As for me, I was devastated when it happened. Because I had always been an adventurous boy who was often getting into trouble, I thought that I had been kicked out of the family for bad conduct. First, I cried. Then I pulled myself together and asked God for courage. From that day on, I felt I was a real man, on my own. I knew I would have to figure out life by myself.
8. When and why did you legally change your name back to Matisse?
I did not change my name - I reclaimed the name I had been known by until I was twelve years old. In 1966, with my wife, Jeanne’s encouragement, I began pursuing the documents I needed to reclaim my name. Official French school documents from1939 verified that my name is Renee Pierre Louis Henri Matisse. The paperwork was presented to legal authorities in France, Canada, and the United States, and accepted.
9. Why are you questioning who your father is? Who do you believe is your real father?
My mother told me when I was twelve years old that my last name is Leroy. Later, my grandmother Leroy tells me that I am not her grandson; I am a Matisse. At the end of the war, the man who is supposedly my father – Camille Leroy – confirms what his mother had told me.
Margie Watterson | margiewatterson@tyndale.com | 630.784.5174
“You are not my son” he tells me. What would you do? So who is my father? I want to know…and DNA will reveal the answer.
10. Why do you think your mother was abandoned by the Matisse family at the time of her death?
The facts were that my mother, after twenty years of marriage to Jean Matisse, had left him just months before she died. The Matisse family was rich and when any of them were ill, they were treated at the American Hospital, the best hospital in Paris at the time. My mother was not sent there. She died in a common room with no privacy, in the most abject conditions. She was screaming in agony from unbearable pain. I loved my mother dearly and am thankful I was able to be with her in her dying moments. As for the Matisse family’s decision to abandon her, how do you think I feel about that?
11. You were recently baptized in a bathtub by Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame. How did you meet him, and what prompted you to become baptized later in life?
My wife, Jeanne, and I became friends with the Robertson’s after Jeanne became seriously ill. Their television show made us laugh and we watched it during her recuperation. Eventually, our families connected and I was invited to give an art lesson on a Duck Dynasty episode. While Jeanne and I were in Louisiana, we had dinner at Willie and Korie’s home, and out of the blue, Willie asked me if I had been baptized. I told him I was not sure. Willie offered to baptize me for real - right then and there – in his bath tub. I agreed and had a redneck baptism. It has made a significant difference in my relationship with God and my life in general.
12. What has your faith taught you about forgiveness and starting over?
Resentment, holding grudges, hate, are negative feelings, and guilt for past mistakes that you can do nothing about will destroy and poison your soul. I am a positive person who is a problem solver. I believe in finding the good in everything and focusing on it. Many times, I was forced to think of alternative solutions to stay alive in the situation I was in. In those difficult circumstances, it was time to pray for courage.
13. Tell us about your other interests as a pilot, a photographer, music lover, art history buff etc.
Sailing a boat, flying a small plane, photography, music, and literature, actually, all of life is about creating and the word art describes both the process and the end product. History and art history are linked together, they are a blueprint to our precious heritage as they define who we are as descendants of the true Creator. I belong to the same kind of spirited men who painted masterpieces on cave walls thousands of years ago.
Margie Watterson | margiewatterson@tyndale.com | 630.784.5174
The Missing Matisse by Pierre Henri Matisse
ISBN: 978-1-4964-1383-3
Hardcover: $22.99
November 2016
TyndaleMomentum.com