More at the RA

The other week I went to the RA and had quick looks at 'Dali & Duchamp' as well as 'The Jasper Johns - Something Resembling Truth' - it was suggested to me that Matisse in the studio was worth a visit and I wanted to spend some more time looking at Jasper John's work.

I had seen Matisse's Cut-outs  at Tate Modern over 3 years ago and to see another way into Matisse's prodigious output was fantastic, the space that the exhibition was occupying was rather small and such is the attraction of the show that there are a lot of people visiting.


What was great about how this exhibition was curated is the way we were invited to share  the objects and people around Henri that were integrated into his work.

See the Black Marble

I would have like to know about the model Henriette Dariccarriére who modelled for many of Matisse's paintings that featured Odalisque - many of the materials within these paintings that conjured up Morocco were shown including tables and other ephemera.



'Still life with Seashell on Black Marble' and the study that led to the work were informative, it reminded me of how Nick Pearson had described placing objects and their influence as a sort of 'tension'  between them.
Also like Matisse's   Large Woodcut (he worked in many media and perhaps is now overly eclipsed by Picasso) reminded me of Keith Haring's works.

It was also informative to see the example of Chinese Calligraphy that Matisse's wife bought him - clearly there was a link as there was to the fashion at the time of Matisse's creative peak of African masks.

3 big exhibitions at the RA