The Joy of Life: Matisse, Picasso and Cezanne

Abstract

Matisse and Picasso met for the first time in the fall of 1906.1 Matisse was then thirty-seven and Picasso twenty-five. The older man was known to academic as well as avant-garde circles. His early painting was in the official manner and had found recognition. In 1896 the French government had purchased his Woman Reading and the Societe Nationale had elected him as an Associate Member. But in the same year he discovered Impressionism, and soon after that Van Gogh, Gauguin, and particularly Cezanne. A new horizon opened up for him. He abandoned his early style for pioneer work though this involved loss of financial security. His researches were parallel to the experiments of other young painters, Derain, Vlaminck, Marquet, Camoin, Puy, etc. Around 1903 they cohered into a group with Matisse, the strongest personality among them, the acknowledged leader. The public was introduced to their work (and to Rouault's) in the Salon d'Automne of 1905, where they were nicknamed “the fauves.” Picasso, during these ye...