The exhibition will examine the relationship between Matisse and Picasso which the selectors believe to have been both more complex and much closer at a visual level than has hitherto been recognised. Indeed later in life Picasso himself stated that time would show that in many ways he and Matisse had been following the same paths during the years that had established their individual artistic supremacy. The exhibition will begin in 1906 with self portraits executed by the artists at the time of their first meeting, and with works they exchanged soon thereafter. The years between 1907-17, which saw the painters in open competition, and which produced some of the finest art of the twentieth century, will form the densest part of the exhibition. The final section will deal with Matisse's and Picasso's acrobatic figures from the 1920s onwards.

Exhibiting at:

• Tate Modern (11 May - 18 August 2002)
• Grand Palais, Paris (16 September 2002 - 6 January 2003)
• Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (12 February - 27 May 2003)

A collaboration between Tate, the Réunion des Musées Nationaux / Musées Picasso with the Musée national d'art moderne / Centres Georges Pompidon, Paris and the Museum of Modern Art, New York