MATISSE AT WAR

The art of war.

In his latest book, lawyer and educator Gorham (The Confidante, 2023) deftly explores the life of Henri Matisse in the years surrounding World War II, when the artist lived and worked in the collaborationist south of France. While the artist has sometimes been accused of sitting out the war in relative comfort and safety, Gorham skillfully builds a case for just what was at stake for Matisse, for his family, and for art, and how the artist reckoned with all three. The book opens with a portrait of Matisse on the eve of war as the comfortably plump bourgeois loser in the battle of the avant-garde—ostensibly won by the cubist brio of his rival, Pablo Picasso. Gorham is especially adept in his handling of broader history, particularly in complicated aspects of war and international politics. Similarly, he brings Matisse’s relationship with his family and lovers into crisp, empathetic relief. The book is less sure in examining Matisse’s art, made more difficult without the benefit of illustrations (though, as they say, Google exists). Although there are many places to find explications of Matisse’s art, Gorham offers a different view, such as an utterly understandable assessment by Matisse’s much-painted wife, Amélie: “You may be a great artist, but you’re a filthy bastard!” Matisse, complicated, enduring, and a force of humanist will against a tide of fascist brutality, manages to emerge as admirable in Gorham’s narrative, even as the stakes of resistance were much higher for his adult children and estranged wife. In some ways, Matisse's daughter, Marguerite, is the real hero of this gripping story of art, love, and war. And yet, by the end of Gorham’s excellent account, Matisse is a quiet hero too, one of art and of age.

A stirring tale as much for history buffs as for art lovers.