Crowds queueing to see the exhibition on the first morning its open to the public
Installing Pablo Picasso's L'Arl sienne (Lee Miller) 1937, Private Collection
Henri Matisse 1950s and Pablo Picasso 1940
Crowds queueing to see the exhibition on the first morning its open to the public
13 December 2019 – 13 April 2021, National Gallery of Australia
Matisse Picasso was curated by Jane Kinsman and featured more than 60 paintings and sculptures on loan from 23 prestigious institutions and private collections across the world, plus over 100 works from the NGA’s rich holdings of drawings, prints, illustrated books and costumes by Matisse and Picasso. Together, they revealed how and why these two giants of modern art mined each other’s work to enhance their own.
The two artists had a complex relationship. They were friends but also rivals who spurred each other on to new discoveries and innovations. Along with undeniable mutual respect, there was also a degree of suspicion – an anxiety that one artist might steal the other’s good idea. The sustained rivalry between them was not only key to their individual success, but also changed the course of 20th century Western European art.
The walls in the exhibition were painted in pale shades of pink and blue
This ground breaking exhibition was generously supported with significant loans from the Musée Picasso and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and was to travel to the National Gallery Singapore following Canberra. It also featured major paintings on loan from the Tate; Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza; Sao Paulo Museum of Art; Denver Art Museum; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Modern Art, New York and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Matisse Picasso was well attended after its opening in December 2019, peaking with 3000 visitors each day over the weekend. However, in the new year, bushfires impacted Canberra and the Covid pandemic arrived in Australia and the gallery was forced to close, and the Singapore display could not proceed. Despite the enforced closures, the exhibition received 66,585 visitors.
Henri Matisse Plaster figure, bouquet of flowers 1919, Museu de Arte de São Paulo
