Mercedes Matter

Mercedes Matter
Born	Mercedes Carles 1913(1913) New York City,U.S.
Died	December 4, 2001(2001-12-04)(aged 87–88) Long Island,New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	Arthur B. Carles (father),Bennett College,Maurice Sterne, Alexander Archipenko,Hans Hofmann
Known for	Painting,Drawing,Educator
Movement	Abstract Expressionism
Spouse	Herbert Matter ​ ​ (m.1939; died in 1984)​

Mercedes Matter(néeCarles;1913 – December 4, 2001)was an Americanpainter,draughtswoman,and writer.She was a founding member of theAmerican Abstract Artists,and the Founder and Dean Emeritus of theNew York Studio School.

Biography

Matter's father was theAmerican modernistpainterArthur Beecher Carleswho had studied withHenri Matisse.Her mother,Mercedes de Cordoba,was a model forEdward Steichen.Matter grew up inPhiladelphia,New York City,and Europe.

She first painted under her father's supervision at age 6 and would later recall being given a paintbox to use while working alongside him in the French countryside. After her parents divorced in 1926, Matter spent her remaining school years at various private schools in Europe and America.At the age of 12, she returned to Europe and lived in Italy for over 2 years. She would later recount that her time in Italy—includingVenice,Assisi,Rome,andFlorence—was formative and her primary education inart history.Subsequent studies included atBennett CollegeinMillbrook, NYwith sculptor Lu Duble, and inNew York Citywith Maurice Sterne,Alexander ArchipenkoandHans Hofmann.

In the late 1930s, Matter was an original member of theAmerican Abstract Artists.She also worked for theWorks Progress Administration.She worked withFernand Léger,who would become a close friend, on his mural for the French Line passenger ship company and again privately on another mural.Léger introduced her toHerbert Matter,the Swiss graphic designer and photographer whom she married in 1939.He also resided with the couple for a year sharing their studio and apartment.

The Matters were active in the emerging mid-century New York art scene, and contact with other artists was important to them. Close friends includedJackson Pollock,Lee Krasner,Franz Kline,Philip Guston,Alexander CalderandWillem de Kooning.

In 1943, the Matters moved toCalifornia.Matter was raising an infant son but the environment away from New York was affecting her work. She returned to New York in 1946.

Beginning in 1953, Matter taught at thePhiladelphia College of Art(nowUniversity of the Arts) for 10 years, and then at thePratt Institutefor 10 years. She later taught atNew York Universityfor several years. She was a visiting critic atAntioch,Brandeis,Cincinnati School of Art,Kansas City Art Institute,Maryland Institute College of Art,Yale University,SkowheganandAmerican UniversityinWashington, DC.

In 1964, she founded theNew York Studio Schoolof Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture.A year earlier, she wrote an article forARTnewstitledWhat's Wrong with U.S. Art Schools?in which she criticised the phasing out of extended studio classes which served "that painfully slow education of the senses," which she considered essential. The article prompted a group of Pratt students, as well as some from Philadelphia, one from Cooper Union, to ask Matter to form a school based on her ideas. The school was originally housed in a loft on Broadway and gained almost immediate support from the Kaplan Fund, Mrs.John D. Rockefeller IIIand theFord Foundation.It granted no degrees, had only studio classes and emphasized drawing from life. Early teachers, chosen by the students, included the artistsPhilip Guston,Bradley Walker Tomlin,Charles Cajori,Louis FinkelsteinandSidney Geist;the art historianMeyer Schapiro;and the composerMorton Feldman.The school continues to train emerging artists.

The Matters lived on Macdougal Alley for years, where Mr. Matter had a studio in one of the eight small buildings that had housed the original locale of what is now theWhitney Museum of American Art.

In later life, the Matters moved to Long Island.Matter suffered a serious illness in 1979 and thereafter her husband became terminally ill. He died in 1984. She would later state that following his death, she coped by immersing herself in an intense period of work which became a sort of harvest of all the years of effort. She taught at the Studio School every other week and remained very much involved in its development. In addition to her art and teaching, she wrote articles on artists, including Hofmann,KlineandGiacometti.She wrote the text for a book of her husband's photographs of Giacometti, published in 1987, four years after his death.

Her work is included in the collection of theWhitney Museum of American Art.

Matter died on December 4, 2001.

In 2016 her biography was included in the exhibition catalogueWomen of Abstract Expressionismorganized by theDenver Art Museum.

External links

• @Matter Retrospective Exhibition 2009
• PBS Hans Hofmann Legacy: Mercedes Matter
• Crosse, John. "Herbert and Mercedes Matter: The California Years with the Eames Office and Arts & Architecture. Reflections on the 'Mercedes Matter Retrospective' at Pepperdine's Weisman Art Museum".Southern California Architectural History website, March 19, 2010.