Malaga, Spain - Matisse, Balthus, Chagall, Dubuffet, Giacometti, Magritte and Miró are some of the icons of twentieth-century art whose works are featured in ‘The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’, an exhibition that will be on view at the Museo Picasso Málaga until 24 June, 2007. The paintings, sculptures and drawings that make up this extraordinary group of works have been selected from the collection of the art dealer Pierre Matisse and his wife, Maria-Gaetana von Spreti, part of which was donated to the New York museum in 2002.

For more than sixty years, beginning in 1931, the gallery established by Pierre Matisse (1900-1989) in the Fuller Building, Manhattan, pioneered the advancement of the European avant-garde in the United States, and helped to build the careers in America of such legendary artists as Balthus, Miró, Giacometti and Dubuffet. The exhibitions held at the gallery helped define the American public’s appreciation for contemporary art.

Pierre Matisse was a personal friend of many of these artists and also acquired their works. In addition, he collected pieces by such recognized artists as Chagall and, the dealer’s own father, Henri Matisse. At his death, the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation was created donating part of the art collection to the Metropolitan. In 2007, the European public will have the opportunity to view a careful selection of these works at the Museo Picasso Málaga.

Art historian Jonathan Pratt, contributor to the ‘The Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’ exhibition catalogue spoke on the strategic role played by Pierre Matisse in the dissemination of European art in North America. As a result of his efforts, most important public and private art collections in America have pieces which were purchased in his gallery. Jonathan Pratt was Senior Director of Sotheby’s Europe and has written a number of essays on Ambroise Vollard’s art dealing activities among other subjects.In collaboration with the Universidad de Málaga.

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