From 1948 to 1951, Henri Matisse devoted himself exclusively to the creation of the Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France, which he regarded as “the culmination of his entire life’s work and the fruit of an enormous, sincere, and arduous effort; the result of a life dedicated to the search for truth.”

Join Dominican Brothers Charles Desjobert and Marc Chauveau, visiting from the Chapel in Vence, for an intriguing lecture that traces Matisse’s journey to create his only architectural project and his friendship with Sister Jacques-Marie that played a central role in the creation of this work.

Schedule

10:30 a.m. – Doors open

11 a.m.–12 p.m. – Opening remarks & lecture

About the Presenters

Brother Charles Desjobert

Brother Charles Desjobert is a Dominican friar and a heritage architect. He teaches the evolution of liturgical design from antiquity to the present day at the École de Chaillot in Paris, which trains architects responsible for historic monuments in France. He works as a project architect on various liturgical developments, including on the Lérins Islands near Cannes and in the Lyon region. He also designed the furnishings for the museum of the Chapel of Vence and oversees its maintenance work, including the recent restoration of its roof. He resides at the Convent of La Tourette, a work by Le Corbusier and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Brother Marc Chauveau

Brother Marc Chauveau is a Dominican friar and art historian. For the past twenty years, he has curated contemporary art exhibitions. He has organized some twenty exhibitions at the La Tourette Convent, built by Le Corbusier near Lyon, and has hosted numerous international artists, including François Morellet, Anish Kapoor, Lee Ufan, Anselm Kiefer, and Giuseppe Penone. Now living in Paris, he organizes exhibitions at the Galerie Saint-Séverin, which belongs to the Diocese of Paris.

In September 2026, he will open a new gallery in his convent of the Annunciation on Faubourg Saint-Honoré to showcase works by artists whose work explores spiritual and sacred themes.

He also oversees commissions for contemporary artworks for religious buildings. He has served on several artistic committees for Notre-Dame de Paris to select artists for liturgical furnishings (Guillaume Bardet) and for a series of seven tapestries (Miguel Barceló and Michael Armitage) and for a series of six stained-glass windows (Claire Tabouret).

In 2023, he was named a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Minister of Culture.