Matisse Takes Manhattan

The Snail (L’Escargot), 1953. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, on paper, mounted on canvas. 112 ¾ x 113” (286.4 x 287 cm). Tate. Purchased with assistance from the Friends of the Tate Gallery, 1962. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs, at MoMA through February 8

This large exhibition of Matisse's late phase paper cut-outs shows the artist's brilliant use of negative space, the reduction of a form, and his vibrant palette. It's one of those shows when words don't do justice.

Two Dancers (Deux danseurs), 1937-38. Stage curtain design for the ballet Rouge et Noir. Gouache on paper, cut and pasted, notebook papers, pencil, and thumbtacks. 31 9/16 x 25 3/8” (80.2 x 64.5 cm). Musée national d’art moderne/Centre de création industrielle, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Dation, 1991. © 2014 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 

Is it worth it, amid all the hyped and timed tickets? Depending on your capacity to endure crowds, yes. But investing in a catalogue might be smarter, and there's also a new children's book as well, and a dedicated, insightful website that includes such gems as this: 

Studio assistant Annelies Nelck with tracing of Apollo on the floor of the Hôtel Régina, Nice, c. 1953