In 1938, Kunstnernes Hus presented a four-part exhibition with the great artists Matisse, Picasso, Braque and Laurens, called Den Franske Utstillingen. The exhibition was organized by Walther Halvorsen in collaboration with the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. Matisse, Picasso and Barque were represented with 103 large paintings, in addition to 15 sculptures and several sketches by Laurens. Several of the artworks came directly from an exhibition in the Petit Palais in Paris.

Among the works of art that were exhibited, one of Picasso's most famous paintings Guernica, was part of the exhibition. The painting had been given a whole wall for itself, covering that wall lenghtwise. A location that everyone interviewed by the newspapers in 1938 thought was a much better place than it had had in Paris.

The original plan was for all four artists to attend the exhibition physically, but Matisse had fallen ill and therefore sent his own daughter as a representative for the exhibition. The other three stayed at home because they thought it was too cold in Norway in the wintertime - or as Morgenbladet described it "the other three suffer from fear of traveling in wintertime".

There was great media coverage of the exhibition, and the newspaper Tiden Tegn described it as "the greatest art experience that has ever rocked Oslo".