How French artist Matisse ended up in Russia
Having seen the painting ‘Joy of Life’ at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris in 1906, Moscow merchant Sergei Shchukin was so impressed that he immediately went to the studio of its author, Henri Matisse. Within seven years, the collector became the artist’s main admirer and acquired 37 of his works.
Two years later, Shchukin ordered several panels for his Moscow mansion and invited him to personally supervise their installation. Shortly before leaving, the artist presented them at the ‘Autumn Salon’ in his homeland – his ‘Music’ and ‘Dance’ canvases with nude figures were, however, terribly criticized. But Shchukin, although confused at first, supported Matisse: “You can not leave the battlefield without trying to fight,” he wrote to him.
In October 1911, Matisse arrived in Russia. The artist visited the Moscow Kremlin, the Tretyakov Gallery, went to the opera and met with poets Valery Bryusov and Andrei Bely. The latter best summarized the Frenchman's stay in Moscow: “Drinks champagne, eats sturgeon and praises icons; he does not want to go [back] to Paris.”
The icons really became a real discovery for Matisse. After seeing them, he was so delighted that he could not sleep: “I spent 10 years searching for what your artists discovered back in the 14th century. It's not you who need to come and study with us, but we who need to study with you." And he emphasized: “The Russians do not suspect what artistic treasures they possess.”
Matisse complained about the rainy weather, but marveled at the luxurious life in Moscow: “Here, they party from evening till morning.” And about the city itself, he said that it “has its own face and image, primitive, absolutely beautiful and even a little wild”.
