Alexina Duchamp
Alexina "Teeny" Duchamp , born as Alexina Sattler , (born January 6, 1906 in Cincinnati , Ohio ; † December 20, 1995 in Villiers-sous-Grez near Paris ) was an American art dealer, the first wife of the art dealer Pierre Matisse and second wife of the artist and chess player Marcel Duchamp .
Live and act
Alexina Sattler was born in Cincinnati in 1906 as the youngest of six daughters of the well-known eye surgeon Robert Sattler and his second wife Agnes Mitchell. Because of her low birth weight, she was nicknamed "Teeny" by her mother.
In 1921, Alexina's sister Agnes was allowed to attend school in Paris, and the fifteen year old joined her the following year. She first met Marcel Duchamp there in winter at a ball hosted by Mariette Mills, a friend of her mother's. After studying for a year at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna, she returned to Paris and took sculpture courses at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière .
| Portrait of Alexina Matisse |
|---|
| Henri Matisse , 1938 |
| Charcoal drawing |
| 60 × 40 cm |
| Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, New York
Link to the picture |
She gave up her artistic activity after she married the art dealer Pierre Matisse , the eldest son of Henri Matisse , in 1929 . The marriage resulted in three children, Jacqueline, Paul and Peter. The divorce took place in 1949 because Pierre had started a liaison with Patricia Matta, the wife of Roberto Matta . As compensation, she received the country house and many valuable paintings. In the following time she worked as an art dealer and represented, for example, Constantin Brâncuși and Joan Miró .
In 1951, Max Ernst and his wife, Dorothea Tanning , who had been invited to visit Alexina's home in Lebanon, New Jersey, brought Marcel Duchamp with them as a guest. Teeny and Duchamp fell in love and were married on January 16, 1954 in New York . It was their second marriage. Duchamp, who became the father of three stepchildren in this way, received American citizenship at the end of the year. From 1958, the couple spent summer stays in Cadaqués , where they met Salvador Dalí . In 1959, they moved from 327 East 58th Street to 28 West 10th Street in New York.
After Duchamp's death in 1968, Alexina Duchamp moved to Villiers-sous-Grez near Paris, where she put together an archive containing photographs and other documents on the life and work of Marcel Duchamp. The collection is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art . She continued relationships with her husband's friends, such as the artists Jasper Johns , Richard Hamilton , the composer John Cage and the choreographer Merce Cunningham . Alexina Duchamp outlived her husband by many years. She died at the age of 89 in 1995 in Villiers-sous-Grez. Her family tombstone is in the Rouen cemetery .
literature
- Calvin Tomkins : Marcel Duchamp. A biography . Hanser, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-446-20110-6
Web links
- Alexina Duchamp's obituary in The New York Times
- Philadelphia Museum of Art: Alexina and Marcel Duchamp Papers
Individual evidence
- ↑ Calvin Tomkins: Marcel Duchamp. A biography , pp. 444-451
- ↑ Quoted in the Philadelphia Museum of Art
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Duchamp, Alexina |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sattler, Alexina (maiden name); Matisse, Alexina |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American art dealer and second wife of Marcel Duchamp |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 6, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cincinnati |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 20, 1995 |
| Place of death | Villiers-sous-Grez near Paris |