Three women and the artist : mutually influencing

What a thoroughly absorbing merging of researched biography and fiction this is.

Haydock, whose first book. The Flames, examining the life, works and female influences on the artist Egon Schiele, had been absorbing, but one I had certain stylistic reservations about, was what nevertheless made me eager to read this similar outing into Henri Matisse , and the often unsung lives of women whose lives and influence are more hidden.

My reservations about her first book came from her choice of a framing device, the creation of a modern woman who meets one of the 4 ‘Flames’ coincidentally a few days before the muse’s death, and explores and unpicks parts of their stories.

I was delighted to find she abjured any framing device here, allowing each of the 3 women’s stories to unroll and intertwine with each other, and with Matisse himself.

Amelie Matisse, born Amelie Parayre, was the daughter of free-thinking, progressive radicals. Raised to think for herself, intelligent and of strong opinions, she married Matisse in 1898. This was a marriage which the conventionally minded would have considered beyond the pale anyway, as he not only was an unconventional, ground-breaking, and, at the time, unsuccessful artist, but already had a child, Marguerite, born out of wedlock, with his previous artist’s model, who had left him, taking their daughter with her.

Strong minded Amelie not only was the one who fostered, encouraged and believed in the brilliance of her husband’s work, but was also instrumental in strengthening the relationship between Matisse and his daughter. Marguerite’s mother was not capable of looking after the little girl, but was still loath to allow her contact with her father. Amelie clearly loved Marguerite, and ‘rescued’ her, bringing her up with the sons she and Matisse had together. Amelie was also the model for many of Matisse’s most revolutionary and challenging (at the time) paintings, such as The Green Line and Woman with a Hat. However, late in 1939, Amelie separated from her husband due to the close relationship between Matisse and his assistant and model, Lydia Delectorskaya. Amelie, who died in 1958, became part of the French Resistance after Germany invaded France.

Marguerite Matisse (later Marguerite Duthuit) who also featured as a model for her father, and who died in 1982, played a particularly active role in the French Resistance. Her story, her life, and her role in binding the story and the relationship of the other two women to Matisse and herself, is fascinating. In some ways she is herself the ‘framing device’.

Lydia Delectorskaya is perhaps the most mysterious figure here. Born in Siberia in 1910, she was orphaned by the time she was 12. She was brought up by her aunt, who had fled Russia with her during the upheaval of the epidemics of typhus and cholera which were raging at the time. Lydia grew up in Manchuria, China where many Russian’s had emigrated, either seeking to escape the epidemic, or the Civil War and Revolution in Russia. Lydia came to France, wanting to train as a doctor. Accepted at the Sorbonne, she could not afford the fees, and was somewhat penniless, scratching a living, when she was initially employed by the Matisses, as a companion and assistant to the by then, invalided, Amelie Matisse, in the early 1930’s.
Later, it was the increasingly close relationship which developed between the elderly Matisse and Lydia, as she became his assistant, muse and model in the development of his later art, and the cut out period of his work, as he became increasingly frail, which caused Amelie to leave her long marriage. Matisse died in 1954, and Lydia was his companion till the end.

Haydock’s book works wonderfully as a novel, and wonderfully also as a biography of the three women, and an exploration of Matisse’s art, and its place in art history. Beautifully researched, that research however is seamless and rich within the novel, never overdone. The development and arc of story and character properly carry and contain the academic research

Well I adored this. Beautiful and resilient female characters that came to life off the page vividly and passionately. A sweeping story spanning the years that was addictive and intriguing.

The Flames I thought may be hard to beat, but this is top of the pile too with glorious writing. A wonderful look at the world behind the art we all know and love.

Madame Matisse is an interesting take on the lives of the women who belong to Henri Matisse, brilliant French artist in the early 1900s.
It follows the stories of the women closest to him, Amelie, his wife, Marguerite, his daughter and Lydia, a Russian refugee who becomes his close personal assistant. The novel moves between the three women's lives although it is mostly divided into three separate and chronological parts.

I thought there were many fascinating historical details and it had me looking at Matisse's work with new appreciation. I didn't really connect with the character of Amelie, who is the first perspective we view the story from and so it took me a little longer to get into the tale. However, once we started viewing it through Lydia's eyes and see how traumatic the Russian revolution was on children and families, I sped through the rest in no time.

Would recommend, especially to art lovers! Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting account of Matisse's muses told from the women's perspective. Well written and a fascinating look at that time and artistic life.

This is a fascinating book, it really pulled me in, wanting to know more about the lives of the women around the artist. Based on a true story ,this book tells the tale of the three most important women in the life of Henri Matisse. I liked that the book did not focus on the great artist but the women who inspired and supported him.

This has an interesting cast of characters that carry the story along a nice pace and create depth to the story. Great plot and I found myself filling an afternoon reading this in one sitting as I found it so enjoyable. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest , unbiased review. 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A completely gripping account of the three women who come to dominate the life of the wonderful artist Henri Matisse. His is not the most interesting story in this; as the women’s lives have drama and colour to match his art. Their stories are caught up in each other inextricably woven into Henri’s life and art. The wife,the daughter and the muse, each with their own drama, and we the reader are compelled to identify with them as their stories unfold. The use of the present tense and the sections dedicated to each intensifies the telling and their personalities. The writing is quite wonderful, and perfectly suits the portrayal of a women’s place in the early part of the twentieth century, especially in a supporting role.

'Madame Matisse' tells the story of Henri Matisse through the lens of the three main 'madames' in his life - his wife, his assistant / muse, and his daughter - celebrating how their devotion and contributions shaped his career and legacy.
A fantastic piece of historical fiction, the book is very accurate to the real facts of Matisse's life while still bringing the characters to life. I learned a lot as I went through the book - it was particularly fascinating to look up the paintings mentioned and understand the context around them.
I was not familiar with the author and this book has certainly encouraged me to read her first novel, The Flames.
I would certainly recommend this book - for those who enjoy arts, this will be a real treat.
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I read Sophie Haydock's debut book The Flames in 2022, I did not know the movement she had started to celebrate the unnamed women models of famous paintings. I started following @egonschieleswomen that told the stories of four women who modelled for Egon Schieles - an artist whose work was dubbed pornographic and insulting.

In this book, she chooses Henri Matisse, the famous French artist whose works and artistic career is mostly recorded and respected. Founder of Fauvism, he was written off as a rebel. This book is not just about him, but about three women who have modelled for his famous paintings.

His wife Adele was his making as an artist, believing in his potential and supporting him when he was struggling. The first part of the book is well written with Amelie's resolve and strength becoming the headline. She goes out of her way to inspire him under tough circumstances with three children, one from an earlier marriage of Henri. When we see her paintings acknowledged, we feel vindicated.

We meet Amelie as a old woman now and the story shifts to Lydia, a runaway orphan from Russia, now a woman who became Amelie's caretaker in the Matisse household. She carries around a suitcase with a gun and her love life with a Russian gambler is not much to write about. How she came to become the muse for Matisse in his old age to reinvent his approach and the dynamics in the household becomes the second part.

The third part is about Henri's daughter Marguerite. This part was a bit two shaded especially the parts after the fall of Paris in 1939 resulting in a war. Her covert operation in the war and her arrests seem part of a different book given Henri no longer painted her.

All three women were Madame Matisse at some point of time and the book tries to capture their lives beyond the canvas of a painter. Very readable and I personally am a fan of what she is trying to achieve.

Thank you RandomHouse UK and Netgalley for the ARC. This book is getting published in March 2025.

A famous artist, his wife, his muse (or mistress?), his daughter.

The tangled life of Henri Matisse, from an encounter that leads to a marriage founded on love, but that becomes stale, to fame and fortune.

A compelling read — how much is fact and how much fiction is unclear — and a great story.

This is the story of revolutionary twentieth century artist Henri Matisse, told through the eyes of three women in his life: his wife Amelie, his daughter Marguerite, and his housekeeper and muse Lydia. It seems we're entering a time of reckoning for many of the last century's most lauded creative figures - Picasso, for example, and Eric Gill. (Not to mention many musicians and actors, too.) Sophie Haydock's Madame Matisse contributes to this movement skillfully - adopting previously neglected perspectives to explore the good and the bad in all its human complexity. This is a great companion, too, for any lovers of art history, since it deftly infuses many of Matisse's works with fresh layers of biography.

A great story told wonderfully.

Matisse’s muse. Russian emigre Lydia flees as a child to Paris with her aunt after the 1917 revolution with the aim of joining the Sorbonne. She later becomes assistant to Madame Amelie Matisse and her soon to be famous artist husband in Nice and their relationship deepens. The story is told from both Amelie’s and Lydia’s point of view.

Based on historical research, the author gives us the story of Matisse's career through the eyes of the three, main women in his life. His wife, his longest serving assistant and his daughter all get their moment in the spotlight to reflect on what it is to live in the shadow of a man who was essentially wedded to his art with a singular passion. I only knew a bit about Matisse before starting this and after I'd finished it I did a bit of reading about his life and was impressed by the author's ability to stay so close to the facts of the story and make the fictionalised elements work so seamlessly with them. I really enjoyed this book.

Sophie Haydock seems to understand painters and their muses, and how their interdependence is crucial to the art produced. In this, the so-called difficult second novel, she gives an extra dimension to understanding what makes Matisse so special, through her depiction of the women in his life. It is often not just the artist’s own sacrifice which allows genius to grow, but those of the women who devote themselves to him.

Here she tells the stories of not just his wife, but of the other women associated with him, notably his daughter and assistant/muse Lydia.

In the process she brings the South of France to vivid life and colour. This is a beautiful, tragic and inspiring novel. Engrossing.

This is the story of Henri Matisse, a twentieth century artist, told through the accounts of the three main women in his life - his wife, Amelie, his daughter, Marguerite, and his housekeeper/muse, Lydia. I really enjoyed this. The writing style is easy and flows well, the characters are interesting and the settings and background are well-researched. I did not know much about this artist or his life, and it was interesting to see how truthfully the author has stuck to the known facts.

The artist and his women. The life and loves with inevitable heartbreak and joy. An insight into all this and more about the time.

I think this may have been wrong book, wrong time for me. I suspect I would have enjoyed it more if I'd randomly picked it up in a bookshop when craving reading group fiction. It was beautifully written and the characters were carefully wrought. I found it less compelling that The Flames. However another 'muse' story is very welcome.

It wasn't until the afterword of this book that I realised I had already read this author, having very much enjoyed The Flames previously. Maybe Sophie Haydock is giving us the series that we didn't know we needed, all about the strength and character of the women who stood behind the artists that we consider legends today. Madame Matisse is an engaging book. It colours in the outlines of a story many of us already know and infuses the characters with life and feeling. The shadow of Lydia, the scandal of her is forever entwined with the name Matisse but we can never definitively know the nature of that relationship and in the end, it doesn't matter. At one point or another, each of the women in his life are the Madame Matisse to the great man himself. And the only truth is that he may never have become great at all without them.

Having loved another book from this author I was very excited to be approved for an arc of this. The author once again did not disappoint with her lush prose, engrossing plot and realistic characters who come to life on the page
Recommended for fans of art history and historical fiction

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc

Nice 1939
Madame Amélie Matisse, wife of celebrated artist Henri, suffers chronic pain and has employed mysterious Russian émigré Lydia Delectorskaya since 1932 to help her in the home. Initially, Amélie has nothing to fear from the much younger woman but now Lydia has ‘invaded’ the household and seems to have laid claim to the affections of Henri, pushing Madame Matisse to the sidelines. Despite what Lydia claims, Amélie knows this is a battle for control and caught in the middle is Henri’s daughter Marguerite. This latest novel from Sophie Haydock takes the reader back to Paris of 1897 to Amélie and Henri’s first meeting and takes the storytelling on a journey to post World War Two.

One thing I learn very early on as a history graduate and teacher, is that truth is often stranger that fiction and aspects of this fascinating story bear this out as there are plenty of surprises in store. All the central protagonists are interesting. I knew nothing about the women in Matisse’s life and precious little about him beyond his works so learning about them all has been very rewarding. I especially enjoy when the couple are first in each other’s company as this is a meeting of two unconventional souls. I especially admire Amélie’s independence of spirit and pragmatism which is well ahead of her time. Things change as they often do as she hitches her wagon to the eventual success of her husband. Lydia’s story, traced from 1917 is interesting and the author does a good job on capturing a sense of her as she does of Marguerite. There are moments when each of them acts in a remarkable way which often impacts the others. You also witness what they are pushed to or risk when events dramatically change.

I love the art elements and Matisse is an artist whose work I like and have been lucky to view some of his pieces in various galleries. One of the things I enjoy most via the novel is looking up the art pieces that are mentioned which sheds new light on them, adding an extra dimension to the story.

Although I do enjoy this, after all I’ve rated it 4 stars, and it’s also fair to say my interest in their stories does not wane. However, I do think that the narrative feels a bit detached at times, reading like a biography. This may of course be a deliberate choice by the author but as there are moments of high drama I personally would like a bit more fire.

Overall though, it’s a good read and one I can recommend to fans of historical fiction and/or art and artists. I would also like to mention how fantastic the cover is, which perfectly captures the novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House U.K., Transworld, Doubleday for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.