The painter Françoise Gilot met Picasso in 1943. They lived together from 1946 to 1953, dividing their time between Paris and the south of France, where they paid frequent visits to Matisse, who lived nearby. Her book Matisse and Picasso, a Friendship in Art (1990) gives us a glimpse into how hard everybody worked.
Both Picasso and Matisse are world famous and immeasurably wealthy by this time. What impresses me as I read this book is that neither of them is interested in fame, interviews or paparazzi. During their visits they talk about art. Matisse is working on an extensive project for the Vence Chapel, designing textiles and murals. When Picasso and Gilot get home they are back at their easels, painting late into the night.
At the beginning of the chapter entitled A Merry-Go-Round of Objects we see a photo of objects often used in Matisse’s still-life paintings.
Gilot writes:
In the twentieth century, with the decline of historical and religious painting, the end of the Symbolist movement, and the freedom of choice in subject matter, still lifes reached equal status with other themes or nonthematic works, and great painters renewed this form of art and brought it to new heights.
From the start Matisse recognized the importance of still lifes in his own development. He copied one of books and a candle from a composition by Chardin and others from deHeem. (p.145)
Being an artist is so easy. All you need is a few ordinary pots and the perseverance to paint all day and late into the night.
Henri Matisse, 1869-1954
The Red Onions, 1906
Pablo Picasso, 1881-1973
Françoise Gilot, b. 1921
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 