La Grande Thérèse: The Greatest Swindle Of The Century

Hilary Spurling

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Review

In 1902, at a critical stage in his development as an artist, Henri Matisse was obliged to take time off from his work to disentangle his wife's parents from the effects of a huge and complicated swindle which had ruined them and many thousands of other investors.

Hilary Spurling unearthed the facts in the course of research on Matisse for her wonderful biography The Unknown Matisse, Volume One: 1869-1908 pbk £12.99, and revisits the scene of the crime to tell the story of the sensational rise and fall of Thérèse Humbert.  Born a peasant, she rose to be one of the most influential women in France, and at the height of this elaborate hoax, numbered three successive Presidents of the Republic and five prime ministers among her friends.  Spurling tells the tale with panache.  A gem. - review by Stewart Grimshaw