The Easel

7th April 2026

How a humble print store in Cannes helped write modern art history

Printmakers doesn’t get many accolades. Galerie Maeght is an exception, having for decades produced lithographs and books by a who’s who of 20th century art. From the gallery’s origins in 1946, printmaking was a primary focus, a “laboratory” that produced ideas. Giacometti, for example, saw prints not as illustrations of his sculptures but as “siblings”. Further, such prints are “extraordinarily refined” and a way of making art – “collaborative, experimental, craft-rooted, unhurried – that has largely disappeared”.

1st April 2026

Matisse, 1941-1954 review – hit after glorious hit in a show of life-enhancing genius

How much is not known about Matisse? A little, it seems. This show covers his “late” works, from 1941 to his death in 1954, and overturns the conventional view that by then his art was in decline. In fact, he produced three artistic “revolutions”. He simplified his images, especially in his drawings. He also pioneered “cut-out” works. Finally, he produced “spiritual” works in stained glass. Being about Matisse, the show is naturally “a dizzying, joyous celebration of colour, form, line, light”. A podcast is here.