The Last Issue, a new book by Anat Mei Dan

Anat Meydan is a collector, researcher, and writer. Her first book, “The Imam fainted.“, Modern, published in 1998, leads the reader through the streets of Istanbul on a dozen unique routes following the Art Nouveau style, with which she is in love. Her second book, Ediciones Poligrafa,Art Nouveau in Buenos Aires, a Love Story, published in 2016, is dedicated to Art Nouveau architecture in Buenos Aires and is accompanied by dozens of professional photographs. The book was published in English in Barcelona and won first prize for artistic design in Buenos Aires.

This is how her new book “The Last Issue” is presented on the publisher’s website:

Paris 1908.

Thade Nathanson, son of a wealthy Jewish family, is deep in debt. His art collection and source of pride, the works of his fellow Nabi painters, await auction at the Hôtel Drouot. He stands in grief before the walls of his house, bare of paintings.

"La Revue Blanche," the avant-garde monthly owned by his family, was closed due to a decline in circulation following the Dreyfus Affair.

If that weren't enough, his marriage to Missia – a gifted pianist, a muse for artists, writers, and composers who bore the title of "Queen of Paris" – also came to an end, but his love and longing for her still torment him.

In order not to lose everything, and especially not his sanity, Thaddeus Nathanson writes his life story. He clings to his memories, saying goodbye with longing to the days when the greatest writers, painters, and composers gathered in the living room of their Parisian home.

The latest issue is a story about a passion for art and beauty, about unrequited love and loss, set against the backdrop of the vibrant life of Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period known as "Le Belle Epoque."

While reading Anat's new book, "What is Dan?"The last issue“, Persimmon, in which Theda Nathanson, Missia Sert’s first husband, speaks, I wrote a review of it. But before I elaborate on it here, permission to speak to the author herself, who presents the background to her book:

Behind the writing of the book is a personal story related to my love of the Art Nouveau style and the art collection we own.

Years ago, we acquired a portrait of Misia Godebska Natanson (1872-1950) from 1905 for our collection. The painter Charles Picart Le Doux was a student of Renoir.

At first, I didn’t attach much importance to the cartoon character until I came across the two famous posters for the French magazine La Revue Blanche, designed by Pierre Bonnard and Toulouse-Lautrec – and Missia at the center of them. Pierre Bonnard, who knew how to work magic on paper, designed the first poster, a sophisticated and unique creation in black, gray, and white. In the center is a woman dressed in great elegance, her pale face and sparkling eyes standing out against the black hat she is wearing. The woman is holding the magazine in her hands and next to her is a playful child pointing at it. In the background are countless wall stones, each of which is inscribed in tiny letters with the name “La Revue Blanche.”

About a year after Bonnard's poster was published, Toulouse-Lautrec designed a larger poster than its predecessor, which was a great success. At its center is the elegant and clear figure of Missia, dressed in a fancy blue coat with orange spots, skating on the ice at the Palais des Glaces. A white fur coat with orange trim is draped over her shoulders, one hand resting on a matching bib, and on her head is a wide-brimmed hat decorated with black ostrich feathers.

The posters opened a window for me to an exciting and fascinating life story whose heroes are Misia and Tada.

Since I first heard Misia's story and was captivated by it, I have followed her footsteps: from her childhood, through the turbulent and exciting years of her marriage to Thaddeus, to their painful separation. While Misia remarried (and later for the third time), Thaddeus ran into financial difficulties, the monthly magazine closed, and a few years later, he was forced to sell his art collection – his source of pride.

The idea for my book The Last Review was born from a research grant I received from the Freak Collection Museum in New York (2018), which awards research grants on topics related to collecting. My research topic was: What happened to the art collection of Thaddeus Nathanson, which was sold at auction in Paris in June 1908 and dispersed around the world.

65 photos were sold, and I located 55 of them.

When I delivered my closing remarks to an invited audience at the Freak Collection Museum, I undertook to write, among other things, about Tada's significant contribution to art: Tada paved the way for artists The Na'vi To world fame.

I set myself three goals in writing the book:

One was to shed light on the unique and groundbreaking art collection of Misia and Theda Nathanson that was sold at auction and dispersed around the world. Most of the collection was of painters The Na'vi (Voyer, Bonnard, Roussel, and Alloton) who at one time (like their Impressionist predecessors), were rejected from the official salons and today their works are coveted.

The second was to commemorate Thaddeus's life's work, which was woven into the influential monthly magazine "Le Revue Blanche," which was owned by his family (and for this reason his office was nicknamed the "Jewish Nest"). Thaddeus was the patron of the Natanson family's support and encouragement in all its branches. They decorated the monthly and exhibited their work in his offices. I emphasized the joint "growth" of the artists and the monthly. Two unpopular and even rejected groups: Jews and Natanson artists (in their early days), come together as if at the apex of a triangle into a joint creation that was expressed in "Le Revue Blanche."

The third was to tell the story of the drama in the lives of Thaddeus and Misia, whose star shone brightly in the skies of Paris during their married years and after their separation (I only wrote until 1908, the date of the sale). Misia married a newspaper magnate and theater owner, and thus became richer and more famous while Thaddeus came to the brink of bankruptcy.

During the years I was writing the book, I had interesting and exciting encounters.

We took part in a large-scale event to celebrate Missia's 150th birthday. The celebration took place at Villa Serva in Belgium, which belonged to François and Sophie Serva, her grandparents. We spent the night atMissia's renovated room (The villa is currently guesthouse stunning).

I met Missia Godewska, who lives in London, the great-granddaughter of Missia's half-brother, Sifa. Missia Godewska told me about her great-grandfather, Sifa Godewski.

During the research, I met Barry Singer, an American journalist and author, owner of a bookstore in New York, who gave me the CD for the musical “Mission.” Barry Singer wrote the lyrics to Vernon Duke’s music.

In 2012, the Musée d'Orsay exhibited "Missa, Queen of Paris." Isabelle Kahn, who was the museum's chief curator, invited us to the exhibition, gave us her catalog, and we've been good friends ever since.

My book, “The Last Issue,” is a story of farewell and closing a circle. Despite the difficult events in his life, Thade speaks honestly and openly about the years spent with his beloved Missia, his relationship with his family, the place of the magazine in his life, and above all, his passion for art and his connections to contemporary artists (twenty-two images appear in the book).

This is the first book in which Thade stands center stage and does not cower in the shadow of Misia.

The exciting moment There was a time when I was privileged to stand on stage at the home – museum – of Henry Clay Frick, one of the world's greatest art collectors, and as an art collector from Tel Aviv, I spoke about Missia and Thaddeus Nathanson, a French collector couple and patrons of artists.

Anat who is talking?

I reviewed the book.

Anat Mei Dan, The Last Issue, Persimmon, 2026

Anat Mi Dan's book particularly interested me. The reason for this is my interest in Misia Sert, the main character in the book, the partner of the speaker in it, who separated from her after more than ten years of marriage. Anat came to Misia through a painting she had acquired for her collection, a painting by Charles Picard Le Dou (Charles Picart Le Doux) from 1905, showing a portrait of Missia. Incidentally, the same Charles Picard Le Dou painted Mission Also in 1908, with implied nudity. Two of his famous paintings. And another interesting note about the painter: Eugène Bleu, Joel Tamenlis' great-grandfather, gave him his first major exhibition at the famous Bleu Gallery. You are invited to read about Eugène Bleu, Bonnard and Misia HERE.

I, on the other hand, came to Missia through her contribution to the French and global cultural world. Following what I read about this extraordinary woman, a muse, a hunter and midwife of talent, and a supporter of artists, I published a four-part article here on the website: “Missia Sert, cultural icon, Queen of Paris“. While writing the series, I wondered about the personality of Theda Nathanson, Missia’s first husband, and I also felt a little sorry that they divorced. I thought that maybe she would have been better off living her life with him. Because her two future husbands would have made her bitter. But things are much more complicated, I explained in the article about Missia, and in any case, that was how it was and that was the melodramatic life of the great icon.

I also wondered what happened to Theda. I dug around and found, to my delight, that Theda Nathanson was not harmed by the Nazis, in any case he was not caught or imprisoned. Not only that, Theda remarried, after his stormy separation from Missia, to a woman 17 years younger than him, and remained married to that woman until his death in 1951 at the age of 83. This woman, Charlotte Marie Vaure, whose nickname was Reine (in Hebrew “Queen”), supported him as he grew old and fat and had difficulty walking. Ren and died two years later, at the age of 67.

And here Anat Mei Dan sent me her book, which was recently published, in which Theda Nathanson tells the story of her life in the first person. The book is called “The Last Issue,” but it could have been called “I, Theda.” Anat Mei Dan chose a well-known literary trick in which the author “steals” the identity of a historical figure and narrates in the first person, as if he were the character in question, her memories. The book is not written in chronological order, but moves back and forth between the present, the forty-year-old Theda, and her recent and distant past.

The book mixes historical facts with fictional events but is not called a novel. I looked for the word “novel” in the first few pages and did not find it. On the other hand, it is not a biography because there is no citation of sources and part of the plot is the fruit of the author’s imagination. This genre, despite being acceptable and legitimate, is not my favorite. And if one chooses it, it is appropriate to give credits and make a distinction between reality and fiction, in an appendix at the end of the book. That is acceptable, that is nice, and that is fitting.

When I asked about the sources, Anat Me Dan replied that she relied particularly on His book The great-grandson of Paul-Henri Bourrelier, who died in 2024, was married to Alexander Nathanson's granddaughter, Brigitte Bloch, and is an expert on the family journal. Paul-Henri Bourrelier, incidentally, published more ספר About the period.

Anat Mei Dan met Borellier in person and wrote to me about him that “he was an important source of information. He gave me photographs of Alexander’s house and the letter that Adam Nathanson wrote to his children.” It should be noted that Anat Mei Dan made extensive use of this letter in the plot she was weaving. She also used the book by the American art critic and curator, Distinguished for a Long Life, Gloria Groom, about Wire.

In light of the extensive use that Anat Mei Dan made of these previous books, it was appropriate, for her part, to mention them, to inform readers what she took from them, and to thank the authors, especially Paul-Henri Borellier:

Paul-Henri Bourrellier, La revue Blanche, Une génération dans l'engagement, 1890-1905, Fayard, 2007

Gloria Groom, Edouard Vuillard: Painter-Decorator : Patrons and Projects, 1892-1912, Yale University Press, 1994

And after my reservations about this evasion, my impressions of the writing. The author is, as mentioned, an art collector herself, and who better than her understands the soul of Theda, who was also a collector. At the basis of writing in the first person on Theda's behalf is, therefore, sincere identification. The author lists the works of art that Theda purchased and was forced, as mentioned, to sell, after going bankrupt, at auction.

The present book opens with Theda lamenting his bitter fate and the destruction of his world. The successful magazine he ran with his two brothers, “Le Revue Blanche,” was closed, a worrying financial situation, a divorce from his wife under unpleasant circumstances, and now he was forced to part with the works of art he had collected. A forty-year-old man, without a wife, without children, without the collection that had formed his identity.

Anat Mey Dan explains how difficult it is for a collector to part with his collection and why. What do the paintings the collector purchased represent? Heartache beyond compare, this sale seems to seal the failure of Theda's life. The elimination of his life's work. But it is a feeling that will not remain forever, fortunately for Theda, who, as mentioned, rebuilt his life with a new woman and even built a second collection, but this continuation is not the subject of the book.

A happy childhood in Warsaw, in a wealthy Jewish family. Arriving in Paris at the age of ten, difficulties in integration and unhappiness. But at the Condorcet High School, where Theda befriends boys like him, from the cream of French society at the time, the situation changes, turns upside down.

Anat Mei Dan explains the purchase of the painting “Woman with Black Stockings” (La femme aux bas noirs) by Pierre Bonnard in connection with the young Theda’s visit to a brothel. The collector buys a painting that is related to his memories. An excellent passage from the book, and here is a brief taste of it:

When I was in my twenties, I visited an art exhibition and as I stood in front of this painting and looked at the woman with the black stocking, a strange thrill passed through me and the erotic scene took me back in time to that first visit to the brothel. While I was losing my virginity, immersed in a world of animalistic sexual desire, my gaze fell on a pair of black stockings hanging on the bedpost. I bought the painting on the spot. (p. 20).

And another piece of this kind in which an erotic girlish memory is linked to the purchase of the painting “The Bath” (La baignade). Here is a taste of it:

The contours of a young girl’s naked eyebrow and part of her profile, which Bonnard delicately sketched in his painting, “The Bather,” brought me back to those moments of childish magic when I peered through the keyhole and my spirit and body traveled to other worlds. Bonnard’s brush simultaneously reveals and conceals an intimate moment in which a young girl, seemingly innocent, is alone in nature, surrounded by shades of green and yellow. Because of that memory it evoked in me, I added the painting to my collection. (p. 49).

And other purchases that are like landmarks in the collector's life, an illustrated biography, a photo novel. The two paintings he purchased from Viar, one called "Café Concert" ( Café-concert(and a second one called “Cafe in the Bois de Boulogne”)Café au Bois de Boulogne), documenting the pre-marital period with Misia in which they spent time together in places like this:

In the days of passion and passion that preceded our marriage, we spent a lot of time in clubs, cafes and dance halls that were open at that time to a young audience hungry for entertainment. As a souvenir of our entertainment, I purchased two paintings by Viar: one “Café Concert” and the other “Café Terrace”, in which he so well depicted our favorite places. It was enough to look at the woman wearing a hat decorated with red flowers sitting on the terrace of a cafe in the Bois de Boulogne for me to say to Viar “She looks like Missy, this painting must be mine,” and so it was. (pp. 67-68).

And why did Theda buy a painting of dancers by Degas? A painting of two abandoned dogs on a deserted street by Bonnard? Bonnard's painting of the naked woman, sleeping, with the cat on her wavy hair, so daring? Bonnard's two versions of a man and a woman in a bedroom? Who did Bonnard's little girl with the umbrella remind him of? Read in Anat Me Dan's book, which is the story of the 65 works in Theda Nathanson's possession until the sale.

At the end of the book, he expresses his gratitude to several associates that he is writing a book, not about the magazine “Le Revue Blanche”, but first and foremost about his collection, the paintings and their creators, and thus to commemorate his life’s work. But he will not write about them as an art critic, which is what he did, but rather will tell about their place in his life and the life of Missia, what motivated him to acquire this or that work, works that were then met with contempt. 65 masterpieces, the backbone that weaves his story over the past twenty years.

The works of art that a collector acquires help him discover himself and the secrets of his soul. With their help, he fulfills himself, helps artists and helps himself. The works of art that a collector chooses pour content into his life, shape, color and enchant it, positioning him as an important person, with taste, with value, who will leave a mark in the world of art. Pride fills him as he looks at the walls of his house and its contents. Theda, the second after the eldest Alexander, consumed by envy and a feeling of inferiority, needed reinforcement.

Fascinating information about Theda's fraught relationship with his father and older brother, Alexander, which will eventually be resolved. Information about the humanity of the mother who refused to move into the new house, which was more luxurious than the previous one, after a worker who participated in its construction fell from the roof and was killed. She herself died at the age of 41, all of which were details I did not know when I read and wrote about Missia. I also did not know about the suicide of the younger brother, Leo, at the age of 23.

The book moves back and forth, with its core being the description of Theda's separation from his collection. The auction section is perhaps the climax of the book, which is organized around it. The reader shares in Theda's tension, in his feelings, in his reactions, throughout the event. Theda saw it as a symbol of his crushing downfall, from Igra Rama to Bira Amikata, but he knew how to rise again. And in this way, the reader learns about the period, its storms and customs, in a pleasant and interesting way, through the eyes of a contemporary. Anat Mei Dan describes the lives of the Nathansons as if she were one of the closest guests. And what a subtle understanding of Theda's inner turmoil!

I read the book in three days, I couldn't put it down for hours. In this way, I supplemented the information I had about the Nathanson family and its mission through Theda's perspective, as Anat Mei Dan saw it. Recommended for art lovers who will enjoy her refined, sensitive, and romantic writing.

Orna Lieberman

Did you like the article?

You are invited to read Misia's true story in full. HERE