The Tampa Museum of Art's classy new home is not even complete, yet has already landed a big one - the original Fauve himself, Henri Matisse. A Celebration of Henri Matisse will be the inagural exhibition of the Museum's instant landmark building on the Hillsborough River.
The exhibition will feature an extensive collection of Matisse's prints, paintings and sculptures and will be the first comprehensive showing of his work in the Tampa Bay area.
Parisian art critics first called Matisse a "Wild Beast" for his bold expressive colors and non-Academic style. He eventually won them over to become arguably the greatest artist of the 20th Century.
Read St. Petersburg Times Art Critic Lennie Bennett's story.
One of my college art classes was a studio course called Methods and Materials of the Artist. After an introduction to the various media, we were given the assignment of reproducing a work by a 20th Century master. The catch was that we must stick to a 9" x 12" format and use a medium other than the one used by the artist.
I chose to reproduce in gouache one of the many still-lives of Henri Matisse. After laboring for a long and frustrating week, I finished the piece just before the deadline. Not much more is known, except that I somehow passed the course. The still-life ended up in my portfolio and after graduation became a gift to my parents.
Placed in an antique frame, the piece held a place of honor in their home for years. One day, a visitor to my mother's antique shop stopped to admire her painting collection. Standing in front of my class project, she leaned in close to read the signature and her mouth fell open.
She slowly turned to my mother and with mounting excitement said, "I'm not positive, but I think you might have an Henri Matisse painting."
In that moment, my mom made the decision to have some fun and play along with her visitor. "Oh goodness, do you really think so?"
The lady did think so and nothing would do except for her to take the piece to a friend for authentication. Her friend turned out to be one of the curators at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota.
My mischevious mom resisted the urge to halt the ruse and handed over the still-life. Weeks passed until one day the visitor called with promising news. The Ringling curator had thoroughly examined the piece and agreed it might indeed be a Matisse.
"The only way to know for sure," he said, "is to show it to Matisse's son Pierre in New York."
At that point, my mother thought it best to end the charade. She had the art returned and continued to enjoy her 'masterpiece' for many more years.
The Tampa Museum of Art's classy new home is not even complete, yet has already landed a big one - the original Fauve himself, Henri Matisse. A Celebration of Henri Matisse will be the inagural exhibition of the Museum's instant landmark building on the Hillsborough River.