Matisse at War: Art and Resistance in Nazi-Occupied France

by Christopher C. Gorham

Spotlighting the years during WWII when Henri Matisse and his family defiantly refused to evacuate Nazi-occupied France, this groundbreaking book illuminates the previously untold history of their passionate roles in the Resistance and the prodigious, revolutionary work the artist produced in the face of fascism, violence, and hate.

For readers of Jeffrey H. Jackson’s Paper Bullets, Martin Dugard’s Taking Paris, Julie Orringer’s The Flight Portfolio, and Picasso’s War by Hugh Eakin – from the acclaimed author of The Confidante.

In 1940, with the Nazis sweeping through France, Henri Matisse found himself at a personal and artistic crossroads. His 42-year marriage had ended, he was gravely ill, and after decades at the forefront of modern art, he was beset by doubt. As scores of famous figures escaped the country, Matisse took refuge in Nice, with his companion, Lydia Delectorskaya. By defiantly remaining, Matisse was a source of inspiration for his nation.

While enemy agents and Resistance fighters played cat-and-mouse in the alleyways of Nice, Matisse’s son, Jean, engaged in sabotage efforts with the Allies. In Paris, under the swastika, Matisse’s estranged wife, Amélie, worked for the Communist underground. His beloved daughter, Marguerite, active in the French Resistance, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, sentenced to Ravensbruck concentration camp—and miraculously escaped when her train was halted by Allied bombs. His younger, son, Pierre helped Jewish artists escape to New York; even his teenaged grandson risked his life by defying the Germans and their Vichy collaborators.

Amidst this chaos, Matisse responded to the dark days of war by inventing a dazzling new paper technique that led to some of his most iconic pieces, including The Fall of Icarus, his profile of Charles De Gaulle, Monsieur Loyal, and his groundbreaking cut-out book, Jazz. His wartime works were acts of resistance, subtly patriotic and daringly new.

Drawing on intimate letters and a multitude of other sources, Christopher C. Gorham illuminates this momentous stage of Matisse’s life as never before, revealing an artist on a journey of reinvention, wrenching meaning from the suffering of war, and holding up the light of human imagination against the torch of fascism to create some of the most exciting work of his career, of the 20th century, and in the history of art.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, History, France, World War II, Biography, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Hardcover

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

CHRISTOPHER C. GORHAM is a lawyer, educator, and acclaimed author of THE CONFIDANTE (a Goodreads Choice Award finalist in History/Biography) and MATISSE AT WAR (Citadel, Sept. 30, 2025). He is a frequent speaker at conferences, literary events, and book club gatherings. He lives in Boston, and can be found at ChristopherCGorham.com and on social media @christophercgorham

Reviews

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Christopher Gorham burst onto the scene with his last book, The Confidante, it was a perfect storm of excellent writing, an overlooked subject, and a thrilling narrative. Gorham's follow-up, Matisse at War, has the excellent writing, a well-known subject, but the overall narrative falls a bit flat. It is the case of an excellent author choosing a time period and subject that can't sustain the energy to keep the reader fully engaged. That said, I do find the lives of artists are usually not my favorite, and yet this one still kept me interested.

Gorham is ostensibly telling the story of famed artist Henri Matisse during World War II. Matisse stayed in Vichy France throughout the war and refused to leave. He was elderly around this time and was in and out of the hospital. Gorham tries to infuse Matisse with the proverbial stiff upper lip in the face of the Nazis. The main issue is that Matisse did not do a lot from a resistance perspective. At least, not much that can be definitively proven. His family, on the other hand, was quite involved, and it led me to ask more than a few times why the book wasn't about them instead of Henri.

I should be clear that my criticism, while not a small issue, does not make this a bad read. Gorham proves his debut book was no fluke. In fact, in other hands I might have stopped reading entirely. Instead, because of Gorham's writing talent, this book was only good instead of great. If you take a look and think this looks interesting, then you should definitely read it. You will still have a good time, but you may feel, like I did, that a different focus could have been even better.

(This book was provided as an advance reader copy by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing.)

[Tasha]

Interesting piece of history and background stories of Matisse’s works.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book centers around WWII in regards to the activities of Henri Matisse and his family during this time, it also covers their lives both before and after the war. The book is detailed and informative - I knew very little about this artist and was surprised by his family’s involvement in the French resistance movement. Also surprising were his long term health concerns and it was amazing that he was able to overcome them for many years against the odds. Historians will certainly love the detail and research that the author put into the book. I listened to the audio book and found the narrator to be fine. Some of the content was drawn out and dry at times but I’m not sure the narrator could have made it more exciting.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Media for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are my own.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher C. Gorham provides the reader with empirical criticism of Matisse's art; but more than that, Matisse and his work were greatly influenced by the trauma of World War II. Matisse was not just a passive artist; he and his family suffered great personal trauma. This, Gorham postulates with success, informed all of his art. Great insight, and also very detailed social and political context. Matisse was clearly "in the frame". The artist survived two World Wars; his family was fractured by the events. The last chapter regarding the chapel at Vence and Matisse's vital desire for colours is especially moving. I listened to the audiobook; read with just enough flair by Paul Woodson.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

They took decades to decipher, but with the passage of time came clarity: Matisse’s wartime canvasses were a mobilization of the intellect, a silent howl for a Europe passing through a terrible portal into a new, modern, world. from Matisse at War by Christopher C. Gorham.

This book about Matisse began interesting and ended thrilling, edge of your seat, reading.

The aging artist and his family all played a role in the resistance against fascism.

His son in New York City, running an art gallery, worked to get artists out of Europe, while his other son in France was in hiding,part of the Resistance. In Paris, his daughter and estranged wife were both arrested for their activities, the daughter tortured by the Nazis. And Henri, living in Nice and suffering from debilitating ill health and pain, created paper cut art with veiled political commentary.

The Matisse family had already survived the horrors of WWI when his mother was arrested and his brother was sent to a German labor camp. His work Bathers “could only have been painted in 1916,” art historian Catherine Bock wrote.

Matisse’s dependence on his muse/model/and employee Lydia incenced his wife, who left him in 1939. The role had once been his wife’s but she had fallen into depression. After their separation, Amelie rallied.

Matisse and Lydia lived in Nice; the Southern coast of France was teaming with refugees from Nazi controlled Europe. Matisse struggled with ill health, undergoing an operation. He never recovered his full health, spending much time in bed.

When the Nazis took over over Nice, violence and arrests and torture became the norm. It is horrifying to read the atrocities committed.

While his family was active in the resistance, Matisse was limited by his ill health. His art became his political voice. He would not leave France, even when officials harassed him and threatened to arrest the Russian born Lydia. But he later said that he had a barn used to harbor refugees.

The very act of painting–whether a vase of flowers or Guernica–“upheld the values of humanism.” from Matisse at War by Christopher C. Gorham

The book shows how Matisse’s art evolved, culminating in the paper cutouts he called “the simplest and most direct way to express myself.”

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley

[Gehad alwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both about Matisse and the Horrors of War

I have been to Vence and experienced the chapel. I have also been to and experienced Oradour Sur Glen. This book made my experiences complete.

[Elizabeth Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly absorbing story of art and war, told with momentum and verve. Gorham reveals the humanity of Matisse as the modern art icon wrestles with his art and the courageous choices of his family during France's darkest days.

Having seen the Marguerite and Matisse exhibit this summer (2025), I can say Gorham gets Marguerite Matisse's incredible story right!

[Cheryl Sokoloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about Mayisses’s life. This book delves deeply into how the wars impacted Matisse, his art and his family.

I was particularly thrilled to read this book now because I am traveling to Nice this month. Now I am so excited, I cannot wait! Thank you Christopher C Gorham.

[Jonathan Crain · Rating 4 out of 5]

When offered a visa to Brazil in 1940, Henri Matisse told his son that leaving France would be like "deserting." "If everyone who has any value leaves France," he asked, "what remains of France?" This declaration challenges a narrative that has persisted for decades, thanks in large part to Michele Cone's assessment that Henri Matisse was "supremely indifferent" to World War II—painting as France crumbled around him. Christopher C. Gorham's "Matisse at War" presents a compelling argument against this view, portraying Matisse not as an aloof bourgeois but as a man deeply entangled in the personal and moral crises of the Occupation.

The book is narrow in scope, focusing on Matisse and his family rather than attempting a broad survey of wartime art. This tight focus allows Gorham to explore the period with intimacy. The story is as much about Amélie and Marguerite Matisse—who risked their lives in the Resistance—as it is about Henri. Their experiences, alongside those of Matisse’s son, Jean, and his Russian assistant, Lydia Delectorskaya, provide the dramatic tension against which the painter’s decisions take on meaning.

Gorham’s revisionist claim is two-pronged: Matisse’s choice to remain in France when he could have fled, and the symbolic content of his wartime works. When Matisse told his son that leaving would be like “deserting,” Gorham frames this as an act of solidarity rather than detachment. His analysis of artworks like "Jazz" and the cover for "Verve" argues persuasively for coded defiance through images of the fleur-de-lys or the snarling wolf, which stand in for national endurance and menace, respectively. Whether all readers will accept these interpretations is another matter, but the case is made with conviction and meticulous attention to evidence.

The book’s strengths are clear. It is built on deep archival research, with extensive use of personal letters and memoirs that reveal Matisse’s anxieties for his family and his own health. It is also highly readable. Gorham writes with narrative dash, weaving family drama, political intrigue, and artistic interpretation into a story that rarely feels bogged down. For general readers, it may be as engaging as a novel; for specialists, it offers a forceful intervention in art history under the Vichy regime.

The book's limitations stem from the same qualities that make it compelling. Gorham writes with clear sympathy for Matisse, which occasionally risks overstating the political intent behind aesthetic choices. Yet these concerns don't diminish the book's significance. "Matisse at War" succeeds in replacing the myth of artistic detachment with evidence of profound engagement. By revealing how Matisse's anxiety for his family in the Resistance, his symbolic use of French patriotic imagery, and his very presence as a cultural figurehead constituted forms of resistance, Gorham demonstrates that even seemingly private acts of creativity were part of France's moral struggle. The artist emerges not as the conventional figure too often described in scholarship, but as a man whose revolutionary art and steadfast presence became weapons against fascism's assault on humanistic values.

This review is of an advance reader's edition provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing | Citadel.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matisse At War:  Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France.  Christopher C. Gorham.  Citadel, 2025.  320 pages. Thanks to Kensington Publishing and Citadel for the review copy.


Christopher C. Gorham is an excellent researcher and biographer.  In his newest book, his subject is the great 20th century French artist Henri Matisse, specifically his life in Nice France during Nazi occupation.  Unlike other European creatives who fled Europe during the late 1930s and the early days of World War II, Matisse decided to remain in his home and to continue working, a decision not solely based on patriotism.  As the war progressed, Matisse's health declined, to the point of near death at least once.  It was during this period that he began to move away from painting and adopted the medium of paper cutouts and collage, creating most of my personal favorites of his works.  Gorham discusses his work as skillfully as any art historian, but his real focus is to try to determine what, if anything, Matisse did to aid the Allied war effort, a question that has not been satisfactorily answered in other biographies.   What does he find after a thorough search through letters, journals, and other primary sources?  Spoiler alert:  not much.  No, Matisse didn't join the military Resistance or send coded messages revealing German troop movements or hide Jews downed Allied pilots and help them escape. Instead, Matisse worked, often incorporating French and American patriotic symbolism in his art.  In fact, his mere presence, as others fled, became sort of a minor rallying point for people who knew of it.  Question answered, but honestly, it's not the most exciting answer.  The real excitement and action lay in the lives of Matisse's ex-wife and their children, all of whom risked their lives, and nearly lost them, and joined active resistance cells.  Even Matisse's son Jean, who had already moved to New York before the war and become an important art dealer, worked hard to help Jewish (and other) artists escape to New York and to help them make a living.  It's a good book about Occupied France and an artistic genius.  

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really interesting. There were a number of things I now know that I previously knew almost nothing about - and while I would never have read a book about world war 2, I would read a book about an artist, and this book was really informative and illuminating.
A biography of the artist Matisse focusing on the war-time years, and a story of Nice, in France, also - this book goes chronilogicaly through events that were occurring in the country and the city, alongside the work Matisse was creating at the time. I really enjoyed looking up each art piece as the book went through.
The pace was pretty slow and the book felt long, but things really ramped up with the arrest of Matisse’s daughter and wife by the Gestapo, and oh boy I was so stressed. What they went through, and those like them, should never be forgotten.
Today especially, where the current state of events in some countries looks all too similar to the Nazi’s as they rounded up anyone and everyone who did not look like them, while families waited for word that never came - these accounts matter. It was worse than we imagine and we must not forget.
I loved the little anecdotes around Picasso and Matisse also. Honestly I am shocked at myself, having enjoyed the work but not really payed much attention to the date it was created and therefore never really knowing what they were battling off the canvas.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital arc.

[Christy fictional_traits · Rating 4 out of 5]

'If everyone who has any value is leaving France, what remains of France'?

Although Henri Matisse had already lived through the horror of one World War painting '...a siled howl for a Europe through a terrible portal into a new, modern world', he chose not to leave France when it became evident that France was doomed to Occupation, nor when Vichy France, where he resided, crumbled. Though now divorced and his children scattered with their own wartime resistance efforts, he stayed and he continued to create art. He translated his predicament, his country's imprisonment and a world turned upside down, into his art, 'to translate my emotions, the feelings, and the reactions of my sensibility into colour and design'. His style of art, as well as its execution, was transformed.

Christopher Gorham's, Matisse at War, takes the reader on a journey exploring the man and the artist within the context of war. As a meld of biography, art history, and history, it is an ambitious undertaking. Although it is a highly readable and well-researched story, I felt at times that I was ricocheting from genre to genre, and therefore lost momentum. However, if you love art history, and Matisse in particular, you're bound to find this book a rewarding read overall.

'His art "devoured" his life, it was a vortex of sucking everything in'.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography of French painter Henri Matisse is World War II story with a great deal of context about what was going on in France and what was happening to other artists, art dealers and Matisse's own family at the time. In fact, what those other people were doing was way more interesting than what Matisse was up to.

Christopher Gorham largely writes an apology for Matisse's failure to actively aid the Allied cause at the same time that he patriotically refused to leave France for his own safety. Matisse was quite ill during the war years and he did offer some help to other artists, but he never joined the French Resistance as his ex-wife, son and daughter did. His art was labeled as degenerate by the Nazis, but they still collected/seized it when they had the opportunity. There's a fun little story about Pablo Picasso bamboozling Nazis sent to inventory the bank vaults where he and Matisse kept some of their art.

I enjoyed reading about Matisse's development of his process of cutting colored papers to make collages.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Week on History Happy Hour (110225): "In 1940, French painter Henri Matisse was ill, recently divorced, and full of doubt about his own career. But when the Germans invaded, he and his family defiantly refused to evacuate Nazi-occupied France. Chris and Rick discuss what happened next with HHH alum Christopher Gorham, author of Matisse at War: Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France. Christopher C. Gorham is a lawyer and teacher of modern American history at Westford Academy, outside Boston. He appeared on HHH in October 2023 to talk about his book The Confidante. He has degrees in history from Tufts University and the University of Michigan, and a law degree from Syracuse University. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post and in online journals. He and his wife Elizabeth live in Massachusetts."

[Linda Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I discovered this book when I did, thanks to Laura telling me that the author was going to be at Pikesville library! Matisse has long been my favorite artist, and it was wonderful learning so much more about his life and his art specifically during the war years. Having just spent time in Paris, as well as Amsterdam, and learning so much about the occupation and the liberation of these cities, I had so much more context for which to understand Matisse’s time during World War II. The book was so well researched, but it never felt like I was reading a textbook. I felt like the author was very good at storytelling. Having met the author and listening to his talk, made this book extra special! The only issue is now I need to get back to France so I can visit Nice and Vence!!

[Kathleen Brahney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing, well researched account of Matisse during the war years, and puts to rest the idea that Matisse was merely a bourgeois artist living through those years in relative comfort. Nothing could be further from the truth. Matisse may not have been picked up by the Nazis, who were perfectly happy to profit from his "decadent" style of art, but his family members, particularly his daughter Marguerite and his estranged wife Amelie, suffered terribly under the Gestapo. If you do decide to read this book, you will want to have resources at hand (computer, cell phone... etc.) to look up the images being described in the text. There are just a few illustrations, and I am sure you will want to see for yourself the stunning paintings, prints and works of decoupage, not to mention the beautiful chapel in Vence that Matisse designed toward the very end of his life.

[Fred Schreiber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally liked the book once it got into the meat of the subject matter. The book didn’t really get into what the TITLE of the book implied (Matisse and WWII) until I waded through quite a bit of preliminary material. I began skipping pages until the book got interesting in Chapter 6, when it actually began talking about WWII and Matisse.

There were only six photos of Matisse’s works in the book, although the author had written many more descriptions and interpretations of Matisse’s other paintings, but without any photos of these. I therefore could not readily look at the Matisse work corresponding to the author’s text. Yes, I could have looked up all these named paintings on the web, but they should have been included in the book instead. The author should have followed the adage: "A picture is worth 1000 words."

[The Adventures of a French Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Interesting read to know more about Matisse's creative process and conception of art, and his work during WWII.
Some parts of this book felt long to me, but the involvement of his family in the resistance, and his conception of art as a way to resist were quite compelling.
Why 2.5? A major factual mistake at the beginning of the book (describing the Front populaire as an "extreme-right party", while it was a left-wing alliance), and the several mistakes in spelling French... It may be a detail for some, but for me, it makes me doubt the whole content of the book, especially when I don't know much about the subject.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly interesting book, but I found the title to be a bit misleading. Only until midway or possibly later did we finally get to Matisse and what he did during the war. Seems like what he did during the war was paint in Nice. Granted, he was ill and elderly at the time, but it was his wife, daughter, son and grandson who worked for the resistance and against the Nazis. Some of his paintings were stolen by the Nazis but there seemed to be nothing that told me how he felt about that. Maybe I missed it?

All and all a good book, informative.

[Rob Levy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging book abwith out the life of henri matisse and the perils of the French Occupation. War and art intersect in tragedy for Matisse who faced many obstacles while sequestered in Nice, France during the War.

It's a quick read with great pacing and clarity of the subject. It doesn't get bogged down in explaining Matisse's work, but it does give you an excellent overview of his life and that if his family, expecially his children who were working to fight the Nazis in their own way.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely interesting and detailed windows into Matisse's life during WWII.
Thoroughly researched and well written. Gorham's descriptions add incredible depth to my understanding of Matisse's work, and the pieces he created during that time.

[Paul Scherer (Consignment) · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful book

Weaves together the history and events of WWIi with Matisse’s life mostly in Nice and Vence. Delves into his family, his relationships and his philosophy of art in a sensitive and evocative manner

[Hdonner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learned a great deal about Matisse, the War, painting and art. But I found the book had no voice.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting parts but it also there were sections that barely held my attention.

[Anna Mintzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this in depth biography of Matisse and his time during WWII. Learned more about his family and his relationships. Good explanations of some of his famous works.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but dense

[Adrianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I wanted to love it but it wasn't ground breaking info or a new perspective. Overall a French WW2 history from a Matisse viewpoint

[Glenn Faris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jumped around in time and from general history to the family without clear connectors. Great use of source material - though more photos of the art mentioned would enhance readability.

[Alisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a gripping biography on one of the 20th century's premiere artists. Incredibly well-researched and written, I had a very hard time putting it down.

[James M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read Gorham's " The Confidante" and enjoying it so much I was looking forward to his next book and especially it's subject Covering two of my favorite subjects - WWII history and art. Although not an easy read I did find it very interesting and informative.