The Best Way to See "Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913–1917"

Weegee (Arthur Fellig), American, born Austria. 1899–1968, Coney Island. c. 1939, Gelatin silver print, 10 5/16 x 13 11/16″  The Museum of Modern Art.

Wednesdays–Mondays, until October 11, from 9:30–10:30 a.m., MoMA members and guests of members (with $5 guest-admission tickets) can see the show before the Museum opens to the public.

If you're as compulsive as I am, get there just before 9:30, wait at the eastern-most door on the 54th Street entrance (it's the first to open) and make a beeline to the elevator to the sixth floor. You'll have the exhibition pretty much to yourself for about 20 minutes, and if you stay a gallery ahead of the crowd, you can have it pretty much to yourself for the whole hour.

If you're not a member, or don't know a member to go with, your choices are pretty limited. Your best bet is to purchase timed tickets ($20!) online here. Admission is free Friday nights from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., and a limited number of timed tickets to the Matisse exhibition are available on a first-come, first-served basis. But whether you paid $20 online or are lucky enough to score a free ticket on a Friday night, the show will be very crowded.

The Moroccans Redux

Detail, Henri Matisse,  Les Marocains (The Moroccans), 1912-16, the Museum of Modern Art.

The new MoMA iPhone App has an audio guide to the Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-17 exhibition that discusses The Moroccans. Go to the Tours tab > Special Exhibitions > Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-17 > The Moroccans (South Gallery). I was surprised to learn that what I see as Moroccans praying (see photo above), Matisse himself insisted is melons and leaves. From the audio tour, an unidentified voice that sounds like John Elderfield, the co-curator, says: I know some people have thought that what Matisse says are melons and leaves are in fact the Moroccans, but Matisse is insistent that they are not.

I should have known that an Art Historian of the caliber of John Elderfield would not have missed what I thought was such an obvious image. Nevertheless, this is the first time in any of the literature that I researched on the painting (including this exhibition catalog) that any mention is made that Matisse himself was insistent it’s melons and leaves and not Moroccans praying. I still don’t buy it!

It’s a useful (and free) app, btw. Here a description from the App Store:

Use the MoMA App to find out about current exhibitions, plan a visit, browse or search tens of thousands of works in the collection, take multimedia tours, or learn about artists and art terms. Take a photo through MoMA Snaps and send it to a friend, or choose your playlist to create a soundtrack for your MoMA visit.