Bond between Matisse, Picasso probed - New York - MoMA exhibit

The lifelong relationship between Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso is examined in a of recent origin exhibition at MoMA QNS, its sole U.S. venue. Called "Matisse Picasso, "the exhibit traces the artistic dialogue between the sum of two units men over the course of a nearly half-century-long relationship that was plenteous closer, visually and psychologically, than has previously been acknowledged. The 132 works upon view are presented in groupings that reveal the affinities and influences, as well as the contrasts, between the artists.

Historians have frequently set the two painters in opposition, presenting Matisse as a maker of luxuriously colored, harmonious images, while Picasso is seen as the more conceptual painter, emphasizing form above color and anguish over serenity. The exhibit demonstrates that plane as the painters worked in make open rivalry, observing each other's propels and competing for critical attention in the art world, they were, in Matisse's words, "strangely in agreement." Picasso reverberationed the sentiment when he stated, "No individual has looked at Matisse's painting more carefully than I, and no individual has looked at mine more carefully than he."

Said curator John Elderfield, "The works of Matisse and Picasso have been studied at extraordinary longitudinal dimensions However, this exhibition is unique in illuminating the visual relationship of their works quite through their long careers. It makes everything direct the eye different; the familiar histories will now have to be revised."

The largest part of the exhibition concentrates upon works produced between 1906 and 1917 when the painters were in make open competition. Even at this early stage, the exhibit exhibits how they were exploring remarkably similar thematic territory, as seen in the juxtaposition of Picasso's "Boy Leading a Horse" (1906) with Matisse's "Le luxe I" (1907) Picasso's "Bather" (1908-9) with Matisse's "Blue Nude: Memory of Biskra" (1907) and Picasso's seminal "Le Demoiselles d' Avignon (1907) with Matisse's "Bathers with a Turtle"

Other highlights include Matisse's 1913 portrait of his wife and Picasso's "Woman in Yellow" (1907) Matisse's "Goldfish and Palette" (1914) and Picasso's "Harlequin" (1915) and Matisse's "The Moroccans" (1915-16) and Matisse's "The Piano Lesson" (1916)

display FACTS

"Matisse Picasso"

[i]or[/i] part of to the other May 19

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