Pierre Matisse (June 13, 1900 – August 10, 1989) was a French-Americanart dealer active inNew York City. He was the youngest child of French painterHenri Matisse.
Pierre Matisse was born inBohain-en-Vermandois on June 13, 1900. He exhibited an early interest in the art market, and took a job at the prestigiousGalerie Barbazanges-Hodebert in Paris. In 1924, Pierre settled in New York, where he began a distinguished career of 65 years as an art dealer.
In 1931, Matisse opened his own gallery in theFuller Building at 41 East 57th Street inNew York City. The Pierre Matisse Gallery, which existed until his death in 1989, became an influential part of theModern 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 exhibitedJoan 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, andSimon Hantaï; sculptorsTheodore Roszak,Raymond Mason, andReg Butler; and several other important artists, including his father.[1][2] His art sales included ancient wares, such as the 1937 sale of an ancientOlmec statuette to theWadsworth Atheneum inHartford, Connecticut.[3]
Matisse was married three times. His first marriage, to Alexina "Teeny" Sattler (laterAlexina Duchamp), resulted in the birth of three children:Paul, a painter/inventor;Jacqueline, and Peter. In 1949 the couple separated and Matisse married Patricia Kane Matta, the former wife of surrealist painterRoberto Matta.[4] They were married until her death in 1972. In 1974, Matisse married Countess Maria-Gaetana "Tana" Matisse, the daughter of German diplomat CountKarl von Spreti. They remained married until his death on August 10, 1989, inMonaco. He was interred inSaint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France.
