New MOMA exhibit compares two greats

Matisse, Picasso: two of the greatest art icons of the 20th century. Colliding these two forces in one exhibit, the Museum of Modern Art presents a show unique in its size, scope and visual appeal. The exhibit, aptly titled, "Matisse Picasso," is the largest joint collection of the artists' works and is strategically laid out to emphasize the artistic relationship between the two icons.

While Matisse and Picasso are often contrasted and placed on polar extremes on stylistic scales, this exhibit shows the underlying closeness between the artists. For every Matisse painting or sculpture, there is another Picasso paired with it, existing as the origin of influence or reacting to the other. The relation is best described as a dialogue, a series of proposals and reactions, transfigured on canvascontinually bouncing back and forth between the two.

'A living, visual dialogue'

The exhibit, a collaboration of several British, French and American museums, progresses chronologically from 1906, the year Picasso and Matisse first met. It is the first of its kind dedicated to the relationship between the two artists and their works.

What makes the show so unique is its ability to really engage the viewer and challenge one to make connections between the artists' works. Instead of the orthodox gallery layout, where pieces are separated in sections according to artist, the exhibit puts parallel pieces together to facilitate comparison and analysis. In every sense, it is a living, visual dialogue.

Within a few steps of entering the exhibit, and if the crowd gives way, one comes across the greatest find of the show – Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon." This painting, often hailed as one the top influences in contemporary art, stands at eight feet and is simply awe inspiring. To see famous works such as this translated from textbook to real life is mind numbing, it is a visual shock impossible to ignore. The four disfigured prostitutes rendered in Picasso's shattered, cubist style impose a presence despite the confines of canvas. The figures are life size, amplifying the tension that permeates through the painting and compelling viewers to listen to Picasso's hard-edged statement. However, in this exhibit, what gives further weight to this piece and engenders new interpretations is not found anywhere on the painting.

Instead, it is the painting hung next to it, Matisse's "Bathers with a Turtle." As the audio aides explain, Matisse's painting, about equal in size, was a reaction to Picasso's depraved exposure of the female form. "Bathers with a Turtle" recalls the tradition of European art and is comforting, sheltering to women. It is a loving idealization that directly contradicts Picasso's brutal treatment.

The contrast and tension engendered from this juxtaposition in turn heighten the voice of each individual painting. Through relativity, Picasso is harsher in his cubist interpretation and Matisse's brush strokes and contours are all the more soft and gentle in their rendition. The proximity of the pair conjures a sense of sustained visual dialogue between Matisse and Picasso, as the viewer switches between images.

Blurred Boundaries

While the differences between Picasso and Matisse are often plainly clear, as one continues through the exhibit the tension between the paintings at moments blur. The exhibit demonstrates that because of the intense interaction and simultaneous stylistic changes each artist undergoes, there are times where the line between Matisse and Picasso blur. Sometimes, I found myself needing to search for the small byline, unable to decipher between the two.

However, while the seminal works are noteworthy, as one really begins to explore the exhibit, it's the more obscure pieces that really command attention.

For the general public, its easy to look at a series of Picasso or Matisses and pass them off as inaccessible. The fractured images of Picasso may be off-putting, unaesthetic, and Matisse's large, brightly colored shapes can easily be shrugged off as kindergarten. Under normal gallery settings, where there may only be one or two pieces of work, misconceptions go unchecked and prejudices are faintly challenged.

Instead of passively allowing the public to pass off the artists as unrefined, the exhibit forces each viewer to boldly question the way they internalize art by providing a series of works that span the depth of each artist's talents. A section of the exhibit is solely dedication to drawings and paintings that are perfectly rendered in the traditionalist manner-highly realistic and representational.

The meaning of 'modern'

As artists generally classified by one genre, Picasso has his cubism and Matisse has fauve, the works portray a side hardly revealed to the casual drive by art goer. One piece in particular, Picasso's "Still Life with Pitcher" 1919, is rendered so delicately, so gracefully that it echoes the softness of Rembrandt, the subtleness of Titian and is a far cry from the jagged abstractionism characteristic of cubism.

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Through the simple inclusion of these stunning traditional pieces, the exhibit forces viewers unfamiliar with the artists to question – with all this talent in representational rendering, what drives Picasso and Matisse to completely abandon widely accepted forms of art for less accessible, riskier, modes of art? It is through these types of internal inquisitions that enables people to ultimately appreciate modern art.

The exhibit which debuted in New York on February 13, will only be showcased until May 19, 2003. Since there are only a limited number of tickets sold each day, and considering the popularity of the exhibit, it is advised to order the tickets beforehand and to come early – you'll need every minute to even begin absorbing this visual opportunity. Tickets for students come out to about $20 online. Also plan on investing on a pair of audio aids which will guide you through the exhibit. The audio guides will provide important historical background of key pieces and insightful comparative analysis from two different curators.

Through the visual dialogue emphasized in this exhibit and its mere broad scope, the presentation of Matisse and Picasso will alter your perceptions of the artist. Here, their high intellectualism is undeniable and the work is breathtaking. If you loved Picasso or Matisse before, you'll understand more fully why. If you hated Picasso or Matisse before, you'll leave forgetting that you ever did.