This portrait of art, rivalry, and friendship details the iconic duel between Matisse and Picasso and its place within the history of twentieth-century art.

Fiercely competitive, Matisse and Picasso engaged in one of the most formidable creative dialogues in the history of art. This volume portrays the intertwined evolution of the two giants of modern art as if it were an ongoing chess game between two masters. They shared extraordinarily powerful dialogue during their early careers, and their unique partnership blossomed from the 1930s on, when the artists, who had grown distant for more than a decade, reconnected. They developed a mutual creative appreciation, which they translated into their own work. During the war years, their geographic separation only spurred them to reflect even more on each other’s work; their artistic sparring resumed. In the postwar period—the most poignant in their long friendship—they often met and exhibited together. But Picasso’s greatest tribute to Matisse would come in the series of paintings he realized shortly after his friend’s death; the long rivalry transformed into a deep and melancholic mourning. Beautifully reproduced, including two-color page edging, with historical demonstration supported by striking visual juxtapositions of works by the two artists, this study is a major contribution to the history of twentieth-century art.