They Meet at Last!

Photo: Mitro Hood, Baltimore Museum of Art

Some months ago, I wrote with great anticipation about the upcoming Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibit. The reviews are in, and they are glowing! The exhibition has just finished its run at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and will open March 11 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

Left, Matisse; Right, Diebenkorn

Reviews call the exhibition "deeply stirring", "important", "radiant", "glorious".  It pairs paintings by Diebenkorn with relevant works from all periods of Matisse's life. Diebenkorn was in his 20's when he first discovered Matisse, and was deeply impacted by the work of the French master. Throughout his entire career, Diebenkorn sought out works by Matisse, collected books on Matisse, and stuffed sketchbooks with clippings and postcard reproductions of Matisse's works. The current exhibit has been called a celebration of the influence of Matisse on Diebenkorn.

Left: Diebenkorn, Untitled (Ocean Park), 1971
Right: Matisse, View of Notre Dame, 1914

I have read that the pairings of the two artists' works are "not too literal", but illustrate the deep connection between the two painters. As Sebastian Smee wrote for the Boston Globe, "When you love an artist...your feeling for what he wanted to do, and for the temperament and the thinking behind those ambitions, becomes so engaged that everything he or she attempted interests and involves you. Richard Diebenkorn had that feeling for Henri Matisse." Amen.

Diebenkorn, "Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad", 1965

Luckily for me, I plan to visit friends in California this spring, and that means I may have an opportunity to see the exhibit in San Francisco. Can't wait!  Meanwhile, for Diebenkorn fans, check out the newly released catalog raisonne' from Yale University Press that covers all works throughout his entire career, and gets great marks as a "monumental work" done with "meticulous care".  Oh, and by the way, the book review for these volumes is headlined "The Heir to Matisse...".