Thank you, Kate, for your kind words and for identifying these key themes. An exhibition like this is a multiparty conversation, isn't it, with artists, curators and the viewers all having their say. It's a complex event which throws up as many questions as it settles.
What an interesting, brave post. You are reckoning with the master, interrogating yourself, asking what you have missed. I'm not surprised the cutouts didn't move you. They are decorative but not profound. His greatest work reaches toward joy through suffering. I have looked at Matisse in many museums but the Barnes, in Philadelphia, is home to "Le Bonheur de Vivre" in which the artist's joy seems transcendently anchored in a deep understanding of sadness and loss. Francoise Gilot, in her memoir LIFE WITH PICASSO, has fascinating insights into Matisse and his rivalry with Picasso. Matisse once told Picasso, "We must talk to each other as much as we can. When one of us dies, there will be some things the other will never be able to talk of with anyone else."
I'm interested in what you say (so beautifully) about his "joy being transcendently anchored in a deep understanding of sadness and loss." I didn't find that in all of the work, but it was there, for instance, in the sculpture Jeannette III.
The first thought that popped in my head when I saw your post was, judge a painting by how it makes you feel rather than think about what the author wants to convey. Matisses always made me feel happy because if they’re a pop of color and light hearted movement. Especially the cutouts. I wasn’t much into the almost formless creatures, but the colors and the flowing movement in his pieces evoke optimism.
Que voulez-vous? Moi, j’aimerias m’endormir parcequ’il est minuit et demi maintenant et je suis tellement fatiguée. Mais J’espère rêver à propos du “danse”.
Thank you for sharing! I never knew he was influenced by Delacroix! They are so radically different except for their bright colors. Either ways,
Thank you for your comment, Anu! From memory, the curators mentioned Delacroix in the context of the young Matisse's attempts at still life. My (uneducated) guess is that Matisse's orientalist paintings were also inspired by the painter of The Women of Algiers in their Apartment and The Death of Sardanapalus.
I think what I love best about this post is your willingness to see and learn something new, and then to share it. What a wonderful way to move through life.
Thank you for your kind comment, Maria. I certainly went there to learn, and while I was not convinced by everything I saw, I felt that new joys were opened up to me by this exhibition.
Thank you for taking us on this journey with you, Jeffrey. You went in with curiosity, willing to set aside any preconceptions, open to the artist’s vision. That’s the true beginner’s mind. As a reader, I appreciated it greatly.
I’ve seen only one Matisse exhibit, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, about fifteen years ago. It wasn’t comprehensive, didn’t claim to be, and I remember it mostly for the cut-outs. Lots of notebooks, drawings, and an unexpected flatness to the figures. I recall thinking that the salad in the museum cafe was more interesting. And now I couldn’t tell you what was in the salad. The most enjoyable part of the day was the opportunity to be with my daughter. But that’s always the case.
I love the picture of the artist on the church steps. What would he be thinking, sitting in the pew? Thank you for posing the question, as only the best tour guide would.
Thank you, Mary. "I recall thinking that the salad in the museum cafe was more interesting. And now I couldn’t tell you what was in the salad." I smiled at that!
Yes, I think it was a good move on the part of the curators to include that large photo. It somehow made the whole exhibition a little more personal.
A visitor’s perception of the artist on display is shaped by the choices of the curators. I am not sure what their vision was for this show., beyond exhibiting a range of media. In a different world, you and I could look at Matisse’s great work together.
I'm not sure I got the vision of this exhibition. Perhaps it was to follow the artist's lead and see the final works as the culmination of his artistic practice. I like to resist curatorial narratives, not because I expect them to be wrong (they know vastly more than me), but because I find that sets up an interesting tension while viewing the work.
I love how you create a conversation here with the art and the artist, or the exhibit and the artist. And I think your approach to exhibits makes sense, though I've never heard it put that way: you want both to see a curator's vision and also have room for your own (the resistance). That sounds exactly right!
A wonderful, whimsical trip through an exhibit with a curious, thoughtful guide - lovely Sunday read. And also a reminder that it's ok, and invigorating, to question the canon. 💮
I enjoyed this post so much. The cut outs have become such an emblem of Matisse that his earlier works are rarely seen by a casual observer. I love that middle period too / the light and colours, the sketchy shapes say far more to me, although I love the cut outs too for their sense of movement and often, joy .
Thank you, June. I'm glad you enjoyed this essay. It was certainly great for me to see so many fine works from that middle period. I want to go back to see them again.
I so enjoyed this experience of an exhibition of interest through your eyes and mind and limpid reportage, Jeffrey. Matisse on show at the remote and inaccessible, to me, National Art Centre in Tokyo, brought into close focus. Juste ce que je veux.
I saw a mammoth exhibition of late Matisse at the Tate Modern ten years ago that was breathtaking. I have never seen so much of his work together at one time and I was fortunate to have a ticket for when the museum opened. For a while, I wondered through each gallery completely alone.
Even more amazing? They also had a show of Malevich that was another blockbuster for another day. I knew about his work but had never seen any, and was hypnotized by Red Square and other pieces, had them to myself for a while before the crowds came in. .
Looks great. I seem to remember a lot of that school at The Guggenheim. Which is going to have a show on The Orphic French painters in the Fall. I might go.
Fantastic, thanks for the overview Jeffrey. I'm hoping to visit the Matisse museum in Nice in June, I'll have your notes to inform my visit. I was always very partial to his La femme au chapeau - "color as a material" is very interesting to me.
What an irresistible combination of words and beguiling images, Jeffrey! I love how you are asking your own questions of the artist and his work, not treating Matisse or his curators as having the last word. It makes such art feel very alive and relevant today. A really enjoyable post.
I feel the same about Matisse. 🤨 And I particularly liked this observation from you, " I want to resist their narrative. I want to find my own pattern." I also want to listen to what you have to say, and with Matisse, it doesn't feel interesting to me.
Thank you, Lani. I'm very glad to have had the chance to explore what for me proved to be a more interesting side of his work. I feel I want to know more about that middle period of his career.
Thanks for sharing this fascinating exhibit. I really appreciate your willingness to ask yourself hard questions about Matisse and your response to his work. And I also appreciate what you ask of him in return. As someone who has always loved Matisse because of the way his art makes me feel, it was good to see some of my favorites again in your absorbing essay. Bravo!
Thank you, Kate, for your kind words and for identifying these key themes. An exhibition like this is a multiparty conversation, isn't it, with artists, curators and the viewers all having their say. It's a complex event which throws up as many questions as it settles.
What an interesting, brave post. You are reckoning with the master, interrogating yourself, asking what you have missed. I'm not surprised the cutouts didn't move you. They are decorative but not profound. His greatest work reaches toward joy through suffering. I have looked at Matisse in many museums but the Barnes, in Philadelphia, is home to "Le Bonheur de Vivre" in which the artist's joy seems transcendently anchored in a deep understanding of sadness and loss. Francoise Gilot, in her memoir LIFE WITH PICASSO, has fascinating insights into Matisse and his rivalry with Picasso. Matisse once told Picasso, "We must talk to each other as much as we can. When one of us dies, there will be some things the other will never be able to talk of with anyone else."
Thank you, Rona. I love that quote from Matisse!
I'm interested in what you say (so beautifully) about his "joy being transcendently anchored in a deep understanding of sadness and loss." I didn't find that in all of the work, but it was there, for instance, in the sculpture Jeannette III.
The first thought that popped in my head when I saw your post was, judge a painting by how it makes you feel rather than think about what the author wants to convey. Matisses always made me feel happy because if they’re a pop of color and light hearted movement. Especially the cutouts. I wasn’t much into the almost formless creatures, but the colors and the flowing movement in his pieces evoke optimism.
Que voulez-vous? Moi, j’aimerias m’endormir parcequ’il est minuit et demi maintenant et je suis tellement fatiguée. Mais J’espère rêver à propos du “danse”.
Thank you for sharing! I never knew he was influenced by Delacroix! They are so radically different except for their bright colors. Either ways,
Thank you for your comment, Anu! From memory, the curators mentioned Delacroix in the context of the young Matisse's attempts at still life. My (uneducated) guess is that Matisse's orientalist paintings were also inspired by the painter of The Women of Algiers in their Apartment and The Death of Sardanapalus.
Thank you, that’s great to know!
Couldn’t agree more, Anu viewed from a dismally dark and wet London Spring morning.
Jeffrey, this article in an object lesson on how to reflect on an art exhibition- thank you.
🙏 Thank you for reading and your very kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the post.
Agree! Loved the post, Jeffrey.
I think what I love best about this post is your willingness to see and learn something new, and then to share it. What a wonderful way to move through life.
Thank you for your kind comment, Maria. I certainly went there to learn, and while I was not convinced by everything I saw, I felt that new joys were opened up to me by this exhibition.
Thank you for taking us on this journey with you, Jeffrey. You went in with curiosity, willing to set aside any preconceptions, open to the artist’s vision. That’s the true beginner’s mind. As a reader, I appreciated it greatly.
I’ve seen only one Matisse exhibit, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, about fifteen years ago. It wasn’t comprehensive, didn’t claim to be, and I remember it mostly for the cut-outs. Lots of notebooks, drawings, and an unexpected flatness to the figures. I recall thinking that the salad in the museum cafe was more interesting. And now I couldn’t tell you what was in the salad. The most enjoyable part of the day was the opportunity to be with my daughter. But that’s always the case.
I love the picture of the artist on the church steps. What would he be thinking, sitting in the pew? Thank you for posing the question, as only the best tour guide would.
Thank you, Mary. "I recall thinking that the salad in the museum cafe was more interesting. And now I couldn’t tell you what was in the salad." I smiled at that!
Yes, I think it was a good move on the part of the curators to include that large photo. It somehow made the whole exhibition a little more personal.
A visitor’s perception of the artist on display is shaped by the choices of the curators. I am not sure what their vision was for this show., beyond exhibiting a range of media. In a different world, you and I could look at Matisse’s great work together.
That sounds like a very good world.
I'm not sure I got the vision of this exhibition. Perhaps it was to follow the artist's lead and see the final works as the culmination of his artistic practice. I like to resist curatorial narratives, not because I expect them to be wrong (they know vastly more than me), but because I find that sets up an interesting tension while viewing the work.
I love how you create a conversation here with the art and the artist, or the exhibit and the artist. And I think your approach to exhibits makes sense, though I've never heard it put that way: you want both to see a curator's vision and also have room for your own (the resistance). That sounds exactly right!
Thank you, Victoria. I really appreciate your thoughtful comments. And vive la résistance! 😊
A wonderful, whimsical trip through an exhibit with a curious, thoughtful guide - lovely Sunday read. And also a reminder that it's ok, and invigorating, to question the canon. 💮
Thank you Jane! I know that in your own writing you like to question the canon, so I appreciate that comment from you.
I enjoyed this post so much. The cut outs have become such an emblem of Matisse that his earlier works are rarely seen by a casual observer. I love that middle period too / the light and colours, the sketchy shapes say far more to me, although I love the cut outs too for their sense of movement and often, joy .
Thank you, June. I'm glad you enjoyed this essay. It was certainly great for me to see so many fine works from that middle period. I want to go back to see them again.
I so enjoyed this experience of an exhibition of interest through your eyes and mind and limpid reportage, Jeffrey. Matisse on show at the remote and inaccessible, to me, National Art Centre in Tokyo, brought into close focus. Juste ce que je veux.
Thank you for your kind words, Pauline. I'm so glad that you enjoyed this.
I saw a mammoth exhibition of late Matisse at the Tate Modern ten years ago that was breathtaking. I have never seen so much of his work together at one time and I was fortunate to have a ticket for when the museum opened. For a while, I wondered through each gallery completely alone.
Thank, Lev. I wish I'd seen that one.
Even more amazing? They also had a show of Malevich that was another blockbuster for another day. I knew about his work but had never seen any, and was hypnotized by Red Square and other pieces, had them to myself for a while before the crowds came in. .
That sounds great.
I'm hoping to be in London to see this one later this year: https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/expressionists
Looks great. I seem to remember a lot of that school at The Guggenheim. Which is going to have a show on The Orphic French painters in the Fall. I might go.
Fantastic, thanks for the overview Jeffrey. I'm hoping to visit the Matisse museum in Nice in June, I'll have your notes to inform my visit. I was always very partial to his La femme au chapeau - "color as a material" is very interesting to me.
Thank you, Troy. I hope you have a wonderful time in Nice and at the museum! And yes that's a gorgeous painting, isn't it?
What an irresistible combination of words and beguiling images, Jeffrey! I love how you are asking your own questions of the artist and his work, not treating Matisse or his curators as having the last word. It makes such art feel very alive and relevant today. A really enjoyable post.
Thank you, Ann. That's very kind of you to say so.
I feel the same about Matisse. 🤨 And I particularly liked this observation from you, " I want to resist their narrative. I want to find my own pattern." I also want to listen to what you have to say, and with Matisse, it doesn't feel interesting to me.
Thank you, Lani. I'm very glad to have had the chance to explore what for me proved to be a more interesting side of his work. I feel I want to know more about that middle period of his career.
Thanks for sharing this fascinating exhibit. I really appreciate your willingness to ask yourself hard questions about Matisse and your response to his work. And I also appreciate what you ask of him in return. As someone who has always loved Matisse because of the way his art makes me feel, it was good to see some of my favorites again in your absorbing essay. Bravo!
Thank you for your comment, Andrew and I'm glad that, as a Matisse fan, you enjoyed this essay!
Damn - it is eerie how much Matisse looks like Big Daddy?!
I confess I blinked a few times when I first saw the photo...
Hahahaha, same!