Collaboration

2008 — Exhibition catalog is in excellent condition with one small mar at upper spine. Binding is solid and square, covers have sharp corners, exterior shows no blemishes, text/interior is clean and free of marking of any kind. Organized by the Museum of Modern Art in Paris with the cooperation of the foundation of Georges Rouault, the Archives of Henri Matisse with the coordination of the Brain trust, Inc. of Tokyo. Text is in French and Japanese. 198 pages with a great many full size prints from both artists. In the spring of 2006, the Rouault Foundation's rediscovery of Henri Matisse's letters to Georges Rouault, coming to respond to Rouault's letters that have remained classified in the Henri Matisse Archives, shed light on the "lively sympathy of art" which linked the two artists throughout their lives, from their beginnings in the studio of Gustave Moreau at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, at the end of the XIXth century, until their last meeting, in Cimiez, in February 1953. The correspondence found to date opened in the summer of 1906, when Matisse resided in Collioure, to resume in the 1930s; while Rouault enters into professional contact with Matisse's son, Pierre, who devotes three special exhibitions to Rouault in his New York gallery between 1933 and 1947; it intensified during the Second World War. Theatrical projects, personal health concerns, artistic considerations, exhibition projects, resurgence of memories of their youth intermingle in the letters of the 40s and 50s. Carried out in close collaboration with the Georges Rouault Foundation and the Henri Matisse Archives, the presentation of the correspondence between Rouault and Matisse testifies to this friendly and artistic network. While the exchange of letters was lacking, especially between 1907 and the 1930s, chronological research and archives made it possible to reconstruct the seemingly relaxed framework of their friendship, bringing to light many events which on the contrary attest to its constancy: numerous exhibitions, participation in the first "Jury of the Painters' Prize" in June 1923, at the Ballets russes, collaboration with T?riade for the review Verve. This edition, an original contribution to the history of art, highlights the highlights of their correspondence by articulating multiple meeting points, and sheds light on the parallel journey of two artists who have asserted their own personalities from a point of common departure: the "erotic symbolism" (Philippe Dagen) of Gustave Moreau, figure of their youth which holds a central place until the evening of their life.