Pierre Matisse; Art Dealer Was Son of Famed Painter

Pierre Matisse, an art dealer whose renowned Manhattan gallery was the United States’ most distinguished repository for the works of such contemporary masters as Marc Chagall, Joan Miro, Balthus, Jean Dubuffet and others, has died at age 89.

Matisse, the younger of two sons of the painter Henri Matisse, died Wednesday at Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco, not far from his home in St. Jean-Cap Ferrat, France, hospital officials said. The cause of death was not disclosed.

His father, considered one of France’s greatest artists, tried to discourage his son from becoming an art dealer after Pierre Matisse left his native France in 1925. The father was so opposed, in fact, that he refused to let Pierre show his work.

Pierre Matisse opened his first shop on Lexington Avenue in New York selling prints before moving to East 57th Street in 1932. He held the first of dozens of Miro exhibitions in 1932 and quickly came to be known both for the quality of work on his walls and his knowledge of the contemporary, particularly Surrealist, art movement.

He opened an additional gallery in France and not only displayed the art of contemporary masters but owned several himself.