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518  Wednesday  Nice  Antibes Picasso Museums

(The trip is Vallauris - Super - Cannes) par Antibes (tour du Cap, Juan-les-Pins, Vallauris (poterie)

Antibes is a charming town with a fine old square, [[strikethrough]] of [[/strikethrough]] some fine old streets the old Church & Museum, a fortress, etc. It was a fine experience to see the Picassos hanging with dignity & not at all out of place in juxtaposition with the old sculptures, stones, jars, etc. of the excavations. 

His most successful works, here, are his black on white paintings, & his potteries. The paintings in color are not at all 'reussi' nor his sculptures too impressive.

Curious, that both Picasso & Matisse have gone back to using a primitive line & the use of black on white, searching for a pure, strong, emotional expression. Neither of them attain the force & strength of the Byzantine art for example (much less Cimabue). They both remain decorative, especially Matisse, whose Madonna 

519  Wednesday  Nice
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& Biblical subjects have no more importance than the design of the stained glass windows, the floor or the design of the Cross itself on the Church roof.

Matisse's concept, as a whole, comes thru. There is a complete unity & harmony with the exception of his designs for the priests robes - over elaborate in design & too decorative, again.

Picasso's potteries have an imaginative vigor & playfulness, richly inventive and charming. Always the three themes Pau, Woman & the Bull fight (with the exception of a few still lifes with fruit, flowers & fish).

Picasso's pencil drawings on the 'Pau Theme' are fine (somehow better in reproduction than seen in the original) as are his paintings. I don't quite know what medium he has used - but the texture of the paint, itself, is not his best. Thin & somehow, oily in spots & dry in others - Disappointing, on the whole.