Exhibition in Nice explores the links between Matisse and Yves Saint-Laurent
Nice - Although they never met, Henri Matisse and Yves Saint-Laurent both found similar ways of approaching colour, light and materials. An exhibition in Nice now highlights the close links between the two.
“Beauty, fashion and happiness”, a nod to Charles Baudelaire whom they both read, is on display until September 28 at the Musée Matisse in Nice. The exhibition presents 160 works by the two artists, including paintings, dresses, jewellery and sketches. The aim is to explore “Saint-Laurent's perspective on Matisse's work and the way in which fashion and textiles may have had a considerable importance in Matisse's work,” summarises Aymeric Jeudy, director of the museum.
The exhibition stems from research into Matisse and fashion. It also comes from an in-depth examination of the multiple, more or less direct, references to Matisse (1869-1954) in the creations of Saint-Laurent (1936-2008).
“For Yves Saint-Laurent, Matisse was the painter par excellence. He is what he called one of his 'aesthetic ghosts', those personalities who would accompany him throughout his career and inspire him throughout his creative process,” explains Serena Bucalo-Mussely, co-curator of the exhibition. Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé owned numerous works by Matisse, as well as dozens of books about the painter.
The references can be subtle, such as the motifs from Matisse's cut-out gouaches so present in Saint-Laurent's dresses, or the bouquet from the 1937 painting “Purple Robe and Anemones” which seems to be projected onto a 1988 cape.
They are sometimes so direct that they were the subject of an agreement with the rights holders, such as a reproduction of a 1936 “Portrait with a Pink and Blue Face” on a 1983 handbag.
The importance of fashion and fabric for Matisse, who himself designed ballet costumes, also offers genuine artistic parallels between the two men.
For instance, when the painter was given a fabric in the blue that became his trademark, he had a dress with a white jabot made from it. This was immortalised in his painting “Blue Robe Reflected in the Mirror”. The design was later revived by Saint-Laurent as an evening gown in 1981, with a few extra accessories.
“When Matisse tackled cut-out gouaches, he insisted that he was cutting into the material. It is about finding the colour, shaping it and making an architecture out of it,” explains Jeudy. “An architecture for painting in Matisse's case; an architecture of clothing, in motion for Saint-Laurent”.
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