Explores how the atmosphere and people of Paris lead to the development of modern art at the beginning of the twentieth century and profiles influential artists and writers of the era.

This work accompanies an exhibition organised, in partnership, by Tate Modern, the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, and the Museum of Modern Art. It examines the crucial relationship between Matisse and Picasso.

Published to accompany the exhibition held at MoMA QNS, New York, 13 February - 19 May 2003, this book features a selection from the exhibition catalogue, as well as essays on the relationship between both the artists and their work.

Published to accompany an exhibition held at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, May 21-Sept. 6, 2011, the Reunion des Musees Nationaux-Grand Palais, Paris, Oct. 3, 2011-Jan. 16, 2012, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Feb. 21-June 3, 2012.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition held in Zurich and St Louis 25 September 1998- May 9, 1999.

Previously published: London: Fig Tree, [2014].

Fiercely competitive, Matisse and Picasso engaged in one of the most formidable artistic dialogues of this century. The intense beginning of the relationship between the two artists - from the time they met in 1906 until 1917, when Matisse left for Nice - has already been amply studied, but their continuous exchange during the second part of their careers has never been examined in detail. In Matisse and Picasso, Yve-Alain Bois stages the intertwined evolution of the two giants of modern art as if it were an ongoing game of chess between two masters. As Joachim Pissarro points out in the foreword of this volume, Matisse and Picasso's dense plot and rich narrative make this work read more like a suspense novel than a traditional art history treatise. Bois' thoroughly researched historical demonstration is supported by striking visual juxtapositions of works by the two artists brought together here for the first time, making this long-awaited study a major contribution to the history of twentieth-century art.