ACADÉMIE MATISSE
HENRI MATISSE AND HIS NORDIC & AMERICAN PUPILSOCTOBER 17 - NOVEMBER 17, 2001
Hans Purrmann Standing Nude c.1910, oil on canvas, Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern
Between 1908-1911 some 120 painters from around the world studied at the art school founded in his name by Matisse's admirers, the American patron, Sarah Stein, and the German painter, Hans Purrmann. This exhibition, the first of its kind in America, focuses on the exceptional group of Scandinavian artists who constituted around half of Matisse's pupils, a proportion maintained here. These artists, pioneers of Norwegian and Swedish modernism, are Per Deberitz, Isaac Grünewald, Jean Heiberg, Ludvig Karsten, Per Krohg, Alf Lundeby, Axel Revold, Birger Simonsson, and Henrik Sørensen. These are compared with the Americans - who were among the second largest national contingent at the Académie - Patrick Henry Bruce, Arthur B. Carles, Alfred Maurer, Russell Morgan and Max Weber. Also included are works by the Germans Rudolf Levy, Oskar Moll, and Purrmann, the Englishman Matthew Smith, and Matisse himself, who is represented by three drawings made in all likelihood at the Académie.
Students expecting instruction to match Matisse's reputation as the "wild man" of the avant-garde were surprised to have the Apollo Belvedere set before them to draw, and to be warned off indiscriminate use of pure color. Nonetheless, the influence of Matisse was absorbed in a variety of ways, such as heavy contour in modeling and accentuated contrasts of color. Many of the artists who studied with Matisse became leaders of the modern movement in the countries to which they returned.
Ludvig Karsten Standing Nude 1910, oil on canvas, 25 x 21 inches, private collection, Oslo
Henrik Sørensen The Italian Model 1910, oil on canvas, 25 x 15½ inches, private collection, Lillehammer
ACADÉMIE MATISSE
continues at the New York Studio School through Saturday, November 17, open daily 10-6. Full color catalogue in Norwegian plus complimentary translations available for purchase at $16,
212 673 6466 for details
FURTHER READING:
Three Memoirs by Former Students, Jean Heiberg, Henrik Sørensen, and Max WeberBiographical information on artists in the exhibition