Matisse at War (eBook)

Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France

Christopher C. Gorham (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2025
452 Seiten
Citadel Press (Verlag)
978-0-8065-4418-2 (ISBN)

Infos

Spotlighting the years during WWII when Henri Matisse and his family defiantly refused to evacuate Nazi-occupied France, this groundbreaking book illuminates the previously untold history of their passionate roles in the Resistance and the prodigious, revolutionary work the artist produced in the face of fascism, violence, and hate. For readers of Jeffrey H. Jackson'sPaper Bullets,Martin Dugard'sTaking Paris,Julie Orringer'sThe Flight Portfolio,andPicasso's Warby Hugh Eakin from the acclaimed author ofThe Confidante. In 1940, with the Nazis sweeping through France, Henri Matisse found himself at a personal and artistic crossroads. His 42-year marriage had ended, he was gravely ill, and after decades at the forefront of modern art, he was beset by doubt. As scores of famous figures escaped the country, Matisse took refuge in Nice, with his companion, Lydia Delectorskaya. By defiantly remaining, Matisse was a source of inspiration for his nation. While enemy agents and Resistance fighters played cat-and-mouse in the alleyways of Nice, Matisse's son, Jean, engaged in sabotage efforts with the Allies. In Paris, under the swastika, Matisse's estranged wife, Amelie, worked for the Communist underground. His beloved daughter, Marguerite, active in the French Resistance, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, sentenced to Ravensbruck concentration campand miraculously escaped when her train was halted by Allied bombs. His younger, son, Pierre helped Jewish artists escape to New York; even his teenaged grandson risked his life by defying the Germans and their Vichy collaborators. Amidst this chaos, Matisse responded to the dark days of war by inventing a dazzling new paper technique that led to some of his most iconic pieces, including The Fall of Icarus, his profile of Charles De Gaulle, Monsieur Loyal, and his groundbreaking cut-out book, Jazz. His wartime works were acts of resistance, subtly patriotic and daringly new. Drawing on intimate letters and a multitude of other sources, Christopher C. Gorham illuminates this momentous stage of Matisse's life as never before, revealing an artist on a journey of reinvention, wrenching meaning from the suffering of war, and holding up the light of human imagination against the torch of fascism to createsome of the most exciting work of his career, of the 20thcentury, and in the history of art.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.9.2025
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
• Schlagworte: abstract art • André Salmon • ART • artists • Bestseller • bestselling • Cezanne • Christopher gorham • Communists • Cut-outs • D-Day • Europe • fall of Icarus • Fauves • France • French Resistance • French rivera • gaughin • Georges Braque • Gestapo • gifts for dad • gifts for mom • Greatest Generation • Henri Matisse • Holocaust • Impressionism • Jazz • jean matisse • marguerite matisse • Marie Laurencin • Matisse • Max Jacob • modern art • Nazi occupation • New York • NICE • occupied france • Pablo Picasso • Painters • Paris • pierre matisse • Ravensbruck • Rennes • Second World War • Surrealism • the confidante • The Dance • the greatest generation • Three Ordinary Girls • Vence • Vichy France • Wolf • Women • Women at war • World War II • WWII
• ISBN-10: 0-8065-4418-X / 080654418X
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8065-4418-2 / 9780806544182