Interpreting Matisse Picasso

This illustrated work provides an account of the evolving personal relationship between Matisse and Picasso, and in doing so it challenges the popular notion of intense rivalry between the two artists. The two first met in 1906 when Matisse had achieved recognition for his innovative Fauvist works and Picasso was poised to challenge for the leadership of the avant-garde. Though the pair were never intimate friends they maintained contact for the last twenty years of Matisse's life and their artistic relationship can be addressed through an analysis of a key group of their works. This volume discusses themes of the primitive, prompting differing responses in their art, and their common dependence on the Western figurative tradition. It goes on to explore their parallel development as leading sculptors and their unceasing invention in the field of collage. It further views the impact of their differing working methods, Matisse's reaction to Cubism and Picasso's preoccupation with brilliant colour and decorative pattern.