results
No results
Please enter a long search term
Matisse and Picasso: so near, so far
Polar opposites but complementary, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso are the indisputable twin giants of modern art. To them and in particular to their relationship - which spanning more than half a century, is much more close and complex than has been thought – is dedicated the huge exhibition which starts out at the Tate in London, transfers in the autumn to Paris before moving on to New York. A choice of locations which has not arisen just by chance, given that it is from the leading museums of these cities (Tate, Beaubourg and MoMA) that the major works of the two artists are taken from, some never before shown together. The paintings have been carefully selected to be comparable in terms of scale and quality.
The relationship between the two artists is explored step by step. From the first meeting in Paris in 1906 – through art collectors Gertrude and Leo Stein – up to Matisse’s move to Nice in 1917 the two studied each other, “copied” each other and attempted to overtake each other in a ceaseless crescendo of conflict which lead them to create some of the major masterpieces of the century.
The monumental Boy Leading a Horse painted by the Spanish master in 1906 is echoed by Le Luxe 1 by Matisse the following year. And the highly acclaimed Blue Nude of the latter is not so far away from the Nude with Raised Arms carried out by his “rival” in the same year. Matisse replied to the cubism of Picasso with his Moroccans and Piano Lessons (1916), this in turn forming a “counter attack” with a new kind of decorative cubism, as in the painting Three Musicians from 1921.
In 1917, when Matisse moved to Nice, the two “friends-rivals” grew apart and developed in different ways, continuing however to study each other and draw support from one another during the war. They met again after the war in the south of France when Picasso established his studio in Cannes.
Left. Matisse, The Italian Woman, 1916, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Guggenheim Museum New York, copyright Succession Matisse / Right. Picasso, Woman with a fan, 1908, oil on canvas. Courtesy of Hermitage Museum St. Petersburgh. Copyright Succession Picasso
Left. Matisse, Goldfish and palette, 1914,Oil on canvas. Courtesy MoMA New York, copyright Succession Matisse / Right. Picasso, Table with violin and glasses, 1913, oil on canvas. Courtesy Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburgh. Copyright Succession Picasso
