Henri Matisse - the vence chapel (version anglaise) - Couverture souple

Collectif

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 2363061187 ISBN 13 : 9782363061188

Editeur : Couleurs Contemporaines, Chauveau (Bernard) Editeur, 2014

Synopsis

Sister Jacques-Marie, born Monique Bourgeois, entered the service of Henri Matisse as a night nurse after the latter was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 72. The two struck up a close friendship and the young Bourgeois even posed for several drawings and paintings. Five years later, in 1943, the two were reunited when both living by chance in Vence, in the South of France. Bourgeois, who was in the process of taking her perpetual vow, lived among an order of Dominican nuns who were in desperate need of a chapel. When she showed her sketches to her friend Matisse, he was persuaded to lend his highly experienced eye to the design of the chapel, and thus began a creative collaboration that culminated in his final masterpiece. Every element, from its stark white exteriors to its stained glass windows, murals, and even its brightly coloured priests' vestments, was developed by Matisse together with the now Sister Jacques-Marie. Reproductions of drawings by Matisse, previously unpublished archival photographs and excerpts of letters exchanged with the artist provide a complete inside story of this great artistic achievement.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Monique Bourgeois was a student nurse in Nice in 1942, when she learned that a painter named Matisse was looking for a nurse. She became his model and several drawings were made as well as four paintings: Monique, and The Idol (1942); The Green Dress and Oranges (1943) and Royal Tobacco (1943).

In 1943, Matisse moved to the Villa "Le Rêve" in Vence while Monique Bourgeois was a boarder with the Dominican Sisters of Notre-Dame du Rosaire de Vence; she decided to join this congregation the following year, taking the name of Sister Jacques-Marie.

The Dominican Sisters of Vence had only a dilapidated garage as a place of worship. In 1947, they decided to build a chapel. In August, Sister Jacques-Marie drew a project for a stained glass window representing the Assumption. She showed it to Matisse who encouraged her to have the drawing made into a stained glass window.

At the end of 1947, the Dominican friar Rayssiguier visited the Sisters of Vence: he was the architect of their future chapel. He met with Matisse and together they worked out the essential elements of the chapel project. The next day, Matisse said to the sister: "I will build your chapel and I will take care of the stained glass windows!" He often took the advice of Sister Jacques-Marie, who remained for him the initiator of the chapel. At Matisse's request, she made a plywood model of the chapel according to the brother's plans.

She often recounted her life, notably in an autobiography and in an American film by Barbara Freed. She died at the functional rehabilitation center Les Embruns in Bidart, which she had directed for thirty-seven years. She was buried on October 1, 2005 in Vence.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Couleurs Contemporaines, Chauveau (Bernard) Editeur
• Date d'édition: 2014
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 2363061187
• ISBN 13: 9782363061188
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 160
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible