Background
She was born Alexina Sattler in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1906. The youngest daughter of prominent surgeon Robert Sattler, Alexina was nicknamed "Teeny" by her mother Agnes Mitchell because of her low birth weight.
She was born Alexina Sattler in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1906. The youngest daughter of prominent surgeon Robert Sattler, Alexina was nicknamed "Teeny" by her mother Agnes Mitchell because of her low birth weight.
Sattler at first thought of becoming an artist and went to Paris in 1921, where for a time she studied sculpture with Constantin Brâncuși at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris.
In 1929 Teeny married Pierre Matisse, an art dealer and the youngest son of Fauve artist Henri Matisse. They had three children: Jacqueline, Paul, and Peter. Throughout 1938, Henri Matisse made a series of portrait sketches of Alexina.
In 1949 Pierre and Teeny separated due to Pierre"s infidelity with Patricia Kane Matta.
She received in the subsequent divorce settlement many important paintings. She worked for a time as an agent and broker for artists such as Brâncuși and Joan Miró.
Tomkins, Calvin, Duchamp: A Biography. Henry Holt and Company, Incorporated., 1996.
Baruchello, Gianfranco & Martin, Henry, Why Duchamp: An Essay on Aesthetic Impact, McPherson, 1985.