Found Treasures and Matisse

 

A couple of years ago at one of my favorite bookstores, I bought the above book. I collect books on my favorite artists and I have a heavy shelf full of books on Henri Matisse. When I got home, I flipped through the book and found the following taped in the back:
 

The book was owned by an artist named Edward Grant Swayze. Unfortunately, there isn't much information on him on the web. I don't know how the book made its way to the used bookstore, but I can guess.

There IS information online about the man who took the photo (and is sitting in the above photo with Matisse.) His name was José Gómez-Sicre. His wikipedia photo is a cropped version of the above photo. Gómez-Sicre was a noted Cuban lawyer, art critic and author. 

A Google search leads me to the above photos having been taken in Nice, France in 1949. The photo with Matisse alone is with studies for the Vence Chapel Stations of the Cross. 

I'll continue to research the meeting and will share what I find.

Some of my Matisse books (I've collected more titles since and have to update the post.)