Sarah Stein
| Sarah Stein | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 26, 1870 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Died | 1953 (aged 82–83) San Francisco |
| Occupation | Collector |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 20th century |
| Subject | Modernism |
Sarah Stein (July 26, 1870 - 1953) was an American art collector. With her husband Michael Stein, the older brother of Leo Stein and Gertrude Stein, she lived in Paris from 1903 to 1935. She supported and popularized the painter Henri Matisse.
Sarah Stein née Samuels was born in San Francisco. She was the daughter of a wealthy German-Jewish merchant. She was given the nickname "Sally" by Jack London.
She married Michael Stein in March 1894. They had one child, Allan Daniel Stein, who was born on November 1, 1895 in San Francisco. Michael sold a streetcar business in 1903 and moved with Sarah and Allan to Paris in the same year.
Sarah and her husband lived mostly in and out of Paris. "The couple was ... educated, and up-to-date. They collected art and tried to keep abreast of the latest trends in education, health, and philosophy."
Sarah and Michael lived in conventional bourgeois comfort as they accumulated paintings and other objects with as much enthusiasm as Leo and Gertrude Stein. The couple concentrated almost exclusively on the work of Henri Matisse, beginning with their first purchase (with Leo and Gertrude) of Woman with a Hat at the Salon d'Automne in 1905. Sarah next bought Matisse’s La Raie verte (The Green Line) (1905), another of the misunderstood masterpieces from the mythical Salle des Fauves. She was one of Matisse's staunchest friends and supporters from 1905 until she and her husband left Paris in the 1930s. In 1906, on a visit to the U.S. after the San Francisco earthquake, Sarah and her husband brought Matisse's work to America, and later took occasional commissions to secure other examples of his works for American collectors. In 1907, Matisse included the Steins' son Allan in his 1907 painting Boy With a Butterfly Net.
In 1908, with a little financial help of Michael, Sarah persuaded Matisse to open a school of painting. Matisse converted his studio at an old convent building on the rue de Sèvres into a school in which he could instruct a chosen few. At a time when Matisse was in considerable economic distress, Sarah made him her hero, and many of her evenings at home with guests became opportunities for her to defend the work of this man who, she was convinced, was a great master. Sarah took informal instruction from Matisse. In her notes for the class, the most detailed record of what went on that has survived, Matisse sounded humanistic rather than radical. He stressed the value of working from the antique, and condemned any modern neglect of spiritual values.
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