A Parting Gift Before Matisse Leaves for MoMA

A Parting Gift Before Matisse Leaves for MoMA



Having gone through
the entire program
on the kiosks at the
Matisse exhibit at the Art Institute,
I can report that
it was pretty much worthless
except for effortlessly delivering
the self-contentment
of erudition.


As if browsing through x-radiographs
of the seven stages
in that painting's eight years of development
somehow gives one
a deeper understanding of how
Matisse developed that painting.

It doesn't.


Because those small, sketchy, rugged
little radiographs
give so little idea
of how this large painting actually appeared
in each of its stages.

The radiographs are just a gimmick.

Too bad the "parting gift"
wasn't one of those still-lifes
or studio views.