61 Henri Matisse Artworks Donated to Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
The Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris has received a donation of 61 Henri Matisse artworks from Barbara Dauphin Duthuit, wife of Matisse’s grandson Claude Duthuit, who passed away in 2011.
The donated collection includes paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, and a sculpture, with most pieces featuring Marguerite, Matisse’s daughter and favorite subject.
The museum described the gift as extraordinarily generous and historic, noting that many of the works had been previously loaned for the Matisse et Marguerite exhibition last year, and the donor's decision to retain them was unexpected.
In 2013, Duthuit gave the Pompidou Centre "Marguerite with a Black Cat," one of Matisse’s best-known portraits of his daughter.
Marguerite grew up in Matisse’s family, survived diphtheria with a tracheotomy, joined the French resistance during World War II, and died in Paris in 1982 at the age of 87.
With this donation, the museum’s Matisse collection will increase to 81 pieces, joining the 20 artworks it already held.
Fabrice Hergott, director of the Musée d’Art Moderne, called the portraits of Marguerite extremely beautiful and moving, confirming the museum as her new home for the coming decades and centuries.
