Three gallery show form a resounding coda to MoMA’s “Matisse Picasso”. The MoMA show, dominated as it is by paintings, wants the complement of prints and books; at Ursus (until 30 April) is an exhibition of important illustrated books by both artists, including the magisterial Matisse volumes Jazz, Mallarme’s Poésies (1932), and is supplemented by some of Matisse’s original maquettes, on loan from the Pierre and Maria-Gaetana Matisse Foundation. At C.G. Boerner (until 2 May) is a juxtaposition of Matisse’s odalisque lithographs from the 1920s (above, “Grande odalisque à la culotte bayadère”, 1925) with Jacques Villon’s 1913 Cubist drypoints depicting his sister Yvonne. All of the works in this fascinating pas de deux come from the magnificent print collection of Richard Harris, from which the gallery assembled an admirable exhibition of Picasso material last year. At Gagosian Gallery (uptown) a range of sculptures by Picasso are on view (3 April-3 May) from early bronzes to mid-career and late works in a range of media. The catalogue for the show includes an essay by Robert Rosenblum.
What's onarchive
What's on: Matisse Picasso: two giants of 20th-century bookmaking
Ursus Books Ltd Matisse Villon C.G. Boerner The sculptures of Picasso Gagosian Gallery
31 March 2003