"Matisse et Picasso, la comédie du modèle" (Matisse and Picasso, the comedy of the model) is an unusual theme for an exhibition presented in the 18th-century Genoese villa in the heart of the Cimiez quartiez, in NICE .
Not sure what to expect, in fact, the title refers to Aragon's novel Henri MATISSE, published in 1971, according to the exhibition presentation document.
Within the framework of the events organized by the cultural program "PICASSO-Mediterranean", the Matisse Museum has chosen to show how MATISSE and PICASSO have appropriated the theme of the representation of their "models" during their career.
From self-portrait to portrait, the two styles are very different, as we can see immediately when the works are presented in the same space.
It's a pity that art historians get lost in excessive intellectual analyses "around the modalities of the relationship between the artist and his model". "To project, to see, to transform, to covet, to possess, to transcend" would be common themes to both artists on the question of the "splitting of the perceptive act"... I give up the attempts of explanations on the background of "morpho genesis" and other incomprehensible terms for me.
If you can read the description on the Matisse Museum website, call me back!
For my part, I think that it is enough simply to plunge our vision in their pictorial works which are moments of imaginary life that the two sacred monsters of the modern art of the XXth century wished to make us share.
In spite of their 16 years of difference, their innate talents and their desire to mark the history of the art of the XXth century had welded them in this ambitious project; Each one had respected the talent of the other and this anecdote is touching:
They respectfully exchanged their works from their first meeting in 1906 in PARIS. One chose a self-portrait of the other and the 2 paintings are exhibited here side by side, which is quite moving for us as viewers, in retrospect.
Their regular visits to the Nice region, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) in Vence and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) in Vallauris and Mougins, left traces of their joie de vivre and detachment from material aspects in their paintings and sculptures.
It is the little story that makes everything change: Matisse discovers while he was about to leave after 8 days of uninterrupted bad weather, the azure blue sky that we find in his views from the window of his hotel room.
For Picasso, while he was staying in Antibes, he decided to go to Vallauris which organizes the potters' festival, one Sunday... there he met the RAMIE family who suggested he try his hand at ceramics.
After Matisse's death, Picasso paid tribute to him and once again, it is an emotional sequence in front of this painting which translates all the respect of an eternal friendship for the colored style of Matisse.
His imprint in our region is so strong that we are pleased to return to the places where these two exceptional artists lived and worked: the Matisse Chapel in Vence, the Picasso Museum in Antibes.
Historians speak of a certain "rivalry" between them. We see two simple approaches to creation that we can admire again and again.
