ART THAT SOARS
Kites and Tails by Jackie Matisse
Companion to the exhibition ART THAT SOARS—Kites and Tails by Jackie Matisse. 2000. 120 pages. 70 color illustrations. 10 black and white illustrations. Commentaries by Rebecca Rickman, Leslie Vallhonrat, Marie-Louise von Plessen, and Jackie Matisse. Homages by Niki de Saint Phalle and Merce Cunningham. Solar System by Ecke Bonk. Mesostic by Molly Nesbit. Design and Foreword by Martha Longenecker, Director. ISBN 0-914155-12-1
FOREWORD
Martha Longenecker Director, Mingei International Museum
Born in Paris to a family in which everyone painted and created works of art, Jackie Matisse's aesthetic sensitivity was nurtured from earliest childhood by her parents and grandfather, Henri Matisse, and by their artist friends, including Mirô and Calder.
Jackie grew up in Paris and New York where her father had established the famous Pierre Matisse Gallery. Her education at the Sorbonne did not include formal training in art.
She became the stepdaughter and protégée of Marcel Duchamp, helping him assemble his BoIte-en-VaIise (portable museum). She is the keeper of the Duchamp archives.
In her mid-twenties, married and raising her four children in Paris, she re-met her childhood friend, Niki de Saint PhaIIe, with whom in New York she had attended The Brearley School. She then realized that art was to be her vocation!
Jackie Matisse's inspiration for designing kites and tails came on a drive to La Guardia Airport when she glimpsed "one, lonely kite flying in an empty sky over urban Harlem."
Seeing Jackie Matisse's kites and tails, one may also be changed by the power of that startling awakening moment! They beckon us to be free—to shed the weight of psychological conditioning and be lifted to that place beyond the known—the source that releases ART THAT SOARS.
Thank you, Jackie!
Our Board of Trustees joins me in thanking all the people who generously contributed their support and expertise in creating this exhibition and documentary publication.
