From June 23 to September 29, 2018, more than 150 masterpieces illustrating the extraordinary artistic emulation between Picasso and Matisse will be presented at the Matisse museum in Nice during one of the pioneering expositions of this summer.
We have not see them together since the 2002 expo in London, New York, and Paris. The Matisse Museum of Nice will reunite the two sacred masters of the 20th century this summer: Picasso and Matisse, on the theme of “the comedy of the model”, thus shedding new light on one of the most successful artistic dialogues of modern art.
This pioneer event of the summer in Nice is part of an international cultural program called "Picasso Méditerranée." Besides the private collection of Matisse Museum, 160 pieces from public and private institutions will be displayed, 40 of which will be loaned on an exceptional basis by the Picasso Paris museum.
The same passion for the Mediterranean
From their meeting in 1906 until the death of Matisse in 1954, both artists, often presented in opposition, had developed what Henri Matisse called “an artistic brotherhood,” leading a reflection around the representation of the body and the creative act.
If one was more fascinated by light and the other by form, each of the two played an important role in inventing modern art. These exchanges are the heart of the exposition, built around infinite mirror games: those between the works—paintings, sculpture and graphic art—from one and the other, and those who revealed the model to the painter, but also the painter to himself.
Beyond the artistic legacy, the exhibit will include documents (correspondences, expo catalogs, magazines, and film) illustrating the relation between Matisse and Picasso. Without forgetting about the photos of their studios, highlighting the differences or similarities between the two atmospheres of these two artists that shared the same passion for the Mediterranean as a source of creation.