EXHIBITION "THE OVERWHELMING POWER OF COLOUR"

OCTOBER 23, 2024 - APRIL 14, 2025

MATISSE MUSEUM

YVES KLEIN COUNTERPOINT IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE MATISSE MUSEUM

Until the end of his life, Henri Matisse sought "something other than real space" and questioned the canons of traditional painting. With gouache paper cut-outs, he expresses an artistic radicality that escapes all pre-existing patterns at a time which, marked by the progress of aviation, "brought about a new understanding of the sky, of expanse, of space". This appropriation of space and the feeling of flight induced by his gouache paper cut-outs are not foreign to Yves Klein. In 1946, he signed his name "on the other side of the sky", appropriating blue and infinite space as one of his paintings.

Known for his "monochrome propositions" and his "zones of pictorial sensibility", Yves Klein shares affinities with Matisse, whose work goes far beyond the concept of the classic easel painting. Indeed, in Klein's work, colour invests space in limitless works, the edges of which fade as pure gouache invades the surface.

As the MAMAC is currently closed for renovations, the Matisse Museum is exhibiting eight works by Yves Klein, offering a new counterpoint to the journey of its collections. As part of the MAMAC's off-site programming, this loan testifies to a collaborative research dynamic between the two Nice museums.

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Hélène Guenin, director of the MAMAC, and Aymeric Jeudy, director of the Matisse Museum