Art: Exceptional Matisse

A Chicago tool & die manufacturer named Clem Caditz began collecting Matisse prints last spring. He bought armfuls of them, but what he really yearned for was a Matisse original. The hitch was that all the originals by famous painters cost too much. Caditz sat down and wrote Matisse a letter: he had just $50 to $100 to spend; could the old master draw him something for that kind of money?

Caditz got his answer in two parts: 1) a friendly letter from Matisse, 2) a tubular package which arrived last week. Caditz, knowing from the letter that something good was on the way, called in his friends and opened the package with ceremony and champagne. Inside was a delicate pen & ink sketch of a girl’s head. Generous but cautious Henri Matisse had written: “I am sending you . . . the object you desire, with the hope that it will please you. But I pray you not to encourage any of your friends to make a similar request of me.” His mail-order job for Clem Caditz. said Painter Matisse, was “completely exceptional.”

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