Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis

The Musée Matisse in Le Cateau-Cambrésis is the museum Henri Matisse founded himself in his birthplace, a small town in the Nord department of northern France, about 25 kilometres south-east of Cambrai. It occupies the Palais Fénelon, a former archbishops' residence, and reopened in November 2024 after an extension. It suits Matisse admirers prepared to travel beyond Paris and the Riviera, and it is a separate institution from the Musée Matisse in Nice.

Matisse founded the museum on 8 November 1952 by giving works to the town, which makes it one of the few museums an artist set up personally during his lifetime. In 1982 it moved into the Palais Fénelon, the residence of the archbishops of Cambrai, rebuilt in the 18th century by Théodore Brongniart, who added a neoclassical porch. The building had also served as a cotton mill and, from 1878, as a school. Ownership passed to the Nord department in 1992, and after three years of works the museum reopened on 8 November 2002, fifty years to the day after its founding.

A further extension by the architect Bernard Desmoulin into the neighbouring covered market added about 1,000 square metres. The museum reopened on 22 November 2024 with some 5,500 square metres in all, after works costing 13 million euros. It has since welcomed 78,000 visitors, more than double its 2022 attendance, with exhibitions on Matisse's illustrated books (November 2024 to April 2025) and on the screen-printing studio of Éric Seydoux (June to November 2025).

Over 780 Matisse works, from early paintings to cut paper

The collection counts 783 Matisse works and objects, including paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints and cut paper, many given by Matisse and some from his early years. Key paintings include Marguerite au chapeau de cuir (1914), Le Violoniste (1917), Intérieur aux barres de soleil (1942) and Nu rose, intérieur rouge (1947).

The museum also holds the Herbin collection, which began with 65 paintings by Auguste Herbin, another artist from the region, along with works by Geneviève Claisse. The Tériade collection adds artists' books, and there are 30 photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Behind the palace lies a classical garden attributed to Le Nôtre.