An 83-year-old nun recalls her 'affair' with Matisse

By Carrie Rickey INQUIRER MOVIE CRITIC
Posted: October 17, 2003

One of the great love affairs of art history is that between Henri Matisse and Sister Jacques-Marie, a Dominican nun, consummated in the creation of the Rosary Chapel in Vence, the medieval village perched on a hilltop near Nice.

A Model for Matisse, Barbara Freed's interview film with the 83-year-old sister, is as light-filled as the tiny chapel, a jewel box of the spirit both spectral and prismatic. The title alludes both to Sister Jacques-Marie's initial service for Matisse as his night nurse and artist's model and also her later role, when she joined her order, as his spiritual guide and goad.

A cheerful and circumspect octogenarian who still blushes at the memory of a male nude statue in the Matisse foyer, Sister Jacques-Marie doesn't entirely dismiss the idea that the French master had a crush on her, encouraging her artistic efforts. But she was firm in her vows and he respected that, even if he was defensive when she chided him about his faith.

Freed intercuts the interview with photographs and newsreels of the chapel's construction as well as footage of it today. While nothing can duplicate the experience of being immersed in the sea of Matisse color offset by the chapel's spare whitewashed walls, Freed's movie comes pretty close. It is an act of veneration, much like the making of the chapel.

A Model for Matisse, at 5 p.m. Sunday at the Prince Music Theater, 1412 Chestnut St. Tickets: $5. Phone: 215-569-9700.

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