November 6, 2002

Welcome to the latest edition of "Quoi de neuf?," a listing of Paris' museum exhibits and gallery shows. "Quoi de Neuf?" is published by Paris Muse, a group of Paris-based art historians offering private mini-courses and now, guided tours of many of the temporary exhibits reviewed here. For more information about tours of "Matisse-Picasso" at Grand Palais, email Ellen McBreen at museinfo@parismuse.com

www.parismuse.com

Matisse-Picasso at the Grand Palais
A Paris Muse Practical Primer

"When one of us dies, there will be things that we will no longer be able to say to anyone else."
—Picasso, quoted in Françoise Gilot, Matisse and Picasso: Une Amitié Racontée.

From the moment they first met in 1906, Matisse and Picasso had an endless supply of things to say to each other. That stunning visual conversation, marked in equal parts by respect and rivalry, is what makes "Matisse-Picasso" at the Grand Palais the must-see modern art event of the year.

But we also know how these sprawling and ambitious blockbuster shows can be a bit overwhelming, even for a visitor familiar with the work on display. So instead of adding yet another descriptive review to the heap that already exists, we have decided to give our readers something more practical. We have done our best to provide (and we gulp nervously when using this word) some truly "useful" information.

What follows is a series of Paris Muse pointers to consider before seeing the show.
(Note: for those of you who won't be able to see it in Paris, you'll have another chance when it travels to MOMA in New York, February 13-May 20, 2003).

1. Pay attention to the other guests at the party.

The point of "Matisse-Picasso" is to trace the exchange of ideas between two of the most influential artists of the last century. They are, of course, the honored guests at the party that was modern art. Don't be seduced into thinking, however, that there weren't dozens of other guests participating in their dialogue (not to mention the other artists who carried on entirely separate but equally influential conversations, such as Braque's with Picasso).

It would be impossible to consider them all here, but one guest that you should pay close attention to in the first floor galleries is African art. Matisse and Picasso had a fascinating exchange about it that began in 1906, when Matisse showed Picasso his first purchase of a Congolese figure. They both became avid collectors, digesting African influence in several experimental nudes on display here. Look at the way Matisse treats anatomy in his African-inspired Blue Nude (1907) and then compare it to Picasso's Three Woman (1908) in the same gallery.

While African art provided them both with an inventive, more sculptural language to describe the body, they had very different ideas about co-opting its expressive power. Interestingly, as soon as Matisse saw how far Picasso was willing to go with it (in his brutal Demoiselles d'Avignon, for example), Matisse let his rival continue that dialogue on his own.


2. Smash the binaries.

"Matisse-Picasso" has provided yet another opportunity to repeat many of the tired binaries used to distinguish these two artists: Matisse's primary concern was color, Picasso's was form; Matisse was a cerebral and restrained northern Frenchman, a buttoned-up bourgeois, while Picasso was a passionate Mediterranean Spaniard, a more inventive maverick. It's human nature to try to clarify difference with clean, diametrically opposed pairs like these, but they simply do not work for Matisse and Picasso. Complex personalities such as theirs fortunately have a way of exceeding our efforts to classify them into neat little columns. Look for changing and overlapping interests, instead of seeing these works as illustrations of antithetical character roles. You'll end us noticing a lot more. Consider a work like Matisse's Notre Dame (1914), for example, with an eye for how it both emulates and transforms Picasso's cubist simplifications.

3. Focus on the differences as well as the similarities.

The curators tried to avoid reducing the show to a series of one-to-one comparisons, but several of their pairings unavoidably encourage that kind of viewing. You may find yourself asking, "Why are these works hung together?" There are only a few instances (mostly from the 20s and 30s) when Picasso and Matisse were clearly picking the same subject intentionally, when the connection is immediately apparent. If you don't think a particular comparison works (we found many that just don't), don't force it. Use the opportunity to really focus on the differences instead. In the last gallery of the first floor, for example, you'll find a series of landscapes. Consider how the flat decorative surface of Matisse's 1907 View of Collioure treats space and perspective in a radically different way than Picasso's Rue-des-Bois from 1908.

4. Beware the slow moving herds.

The show is roughly arranged in chronological order, but that does not mean you have to visit the galleries that way. On the first floor, for example, the galleries are also arranged by theme (still life, portrait, landscape, for example). This means that if one gallery suddenly fills up with a distractingly large tour group being herded about by a shouting guide, you should feel free to work your visit around them. We recommend spending the most time in these first floor galleries, even if they are the most congested. Works from 1906-1920 represent the richest, most interesting section of the show.

5. Do a little surfing before you go

The exhibit has two decent sites. The first one is at www.matissepicasso.com (click the first link below). By choosing the "New York" venue, you can access information in English. We recommend taking a look at the "Comparison with Comments" section, which has some interesting analysis on about 6 illustrated pairs in the show.

But if you read French, you can benefit from a far more elaborate site, and a truly significant research resource on the web, by clicking on the second link below. It is chock full of extremely detailed information and analysis, even though it is also over-designed, a bit difficult to navigate, and still has a few technical bugs to work out. (There is supposed to be an English version, for example, but we couldn't get it to go). Our recommendation would be to visit the "L'Exposition" section first (by clicking on the building at far right in the virtual campus). This is like an enhanced catalog to the show: 20 brief articles are illustrated with about 242 works.

> Click this link for more information
> Click this link for more information

And now, for some even more practical advice...
How not to waste your time in line!

If the snaking queues out front are any indication, the show is breaking attendance records. This is great news for the organizers, but not so good for you. A recent visit to the show, on a Wednesday at 2pm, required almost an hour-long wait. But do not despair—if you are wait-phobic and don't mind planning ahead, you have several options.

1. Go with a Paris Muse guide.
If you give us enough notice, and provide a few different date options, Paris Muse will buy your tickets for you. Matisse specialist Ellen McBreen will meet you at the show and whisk you right in past the lines. Why settle for the bland audioguide when you can have a private engaging tour with an art historian who will focus on your interests and questions? McBreen is currently writing on the sculpture of Matisse. She offers her interactive tours of "Matisse-Picasso" for 75 euros per person (4 person max), which includes the 11 euros advance ticket price. You may email her directly at museinfo@parismuse.com

2. Buy your tickets ahead of time on your own.
We recommend doing this a few weeks in advance if you do this online, at www.fnac.com (click on first link below).
More information on making reservations can be had at www.matissepicasso.com (click on second link below).
By phone from the States, you may purchase tickets by calling 011- 33-1-42-31-32-28.

When in Paris, you can also buy them in person at the Office du Tourism (127, avenue des Champs-Elysees), the FNAC at the Champs-Elysées, Virgin, Printemps-Haussmann, Bon Marché, BHV, and Galeries Lafayette.
Information from Paris: 01-44-13-17-17.

3. Carte Sésame.
If you are already in France, another option is to buy a Carte Sésame at the Grand Palais. This card gets you into all three of the Grand Palais shows this year without waiting in line. In addition to Matisse-Picasso, there is also a Constable show until January 13 and a Chagall retrospective which opens on March 13. This card is "laissez-passer illimité" which means you can visit each show as many times as you like. The price for the Carte Sésame is 32 euros for one person, 60 euros for two. Since tickets to each are between 8 and 11 euros, this is only a deal if you can actually attend all three, or if you are enough of an enthusiast to go to an exhibition more than once.

"Matisse/Picasso" at the Grand Palais. September 22 to January 6. Open daily 10-8pm; Open late on Wednesdays until 10pm. Closed Tuesday. Entrance is at Square Jean Perrin off Avenue General Eisenhower, 75008.
M: Champs-Elysées Clemenceau.

> Click this link for more information
> Click this link for more information

PARTING WORDS

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