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The month of April marks the anniversary of Picasso’s death and the program recalls his works and legacy, as well as the contradictions in his personal life.
The year 2023, more precisely, the 8th of April, marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso. In celebration of his work and legacy, a robust program of exhibitions, initiatives and events raise discussions about his works of art, his influence and also about the painter’s life around the world.
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881 – 1973), considered one of the most iconic names in European modern art, was born in the early 20th century in Málaga, Spain, and died in Mougins, France. He was a precursor of the cubist movement and, prolific, had a vast artistic production. His repertoire was composed of several artistic languages: paintings, prints, ceramics, sculptures and more.
The artist produced several works that are still considered milestones in the history of art. Until then The Ladies of Avignon (1907) is considered one of the turning points in European art towards abstraction and is also considered a forerunner of what would become Cubism.
Guernica, arguably his best-known work, is still considered one of the greatest anti-war symbols. The painting demonstrates the tragedy and horror caused by the war, especially on the bodies of the characters in despair – distorted, with detached arms and heads and expressions of terror. Without a doubt, his artistic production is part of the field of the most influential works of art.
PICASSO CELEBRATION
The governments of Spain and France, through a binational commission, host the programming of the Picasso Celebration – 1973-2023 (name given to international programming). Around 50 exhibitions and events are scheduled to take place in different museums around the world – from Europe to North America, and even in Brazil. One of the most anticipated events is the opening of the Picasso Study Center in Paris – which should take place between the months of September and November of this year.
The program, which already started at the end of 2022 and should continue until the beginning of 2024, will pass through important museums, such as the Spanish ones: Guggenheim Bilbao, Reina Sofia, Prado museum, and the museums dedicated to the artist in Barcelona and Malaga; the French: Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, the Picasso Museum from Paris; and the Americans: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Brooklyn Museum, located in New York. Switzerland and Germany are also part of the program, with the Fondation Beyeler museum and the Kunstmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster, respectively.
Among these exhibits is Picasso: Matter and Body. On display at Picasso Museum Taking place in Málaga from May 8 to September 10, the exhibition will address the artist’s production of sculptures – sometimes seen as a secondary medium within his work – and aims to show how the sculptures produced in a multitude of materials throughout his life forms an integral part of their work.
The exhibition is curated by Carmen Giménez, the museum’s first director, and marks, in 2023, the 20 years of the institution’s existence. After Malaga, Picasso: Matter and Body will be on view at the Guggenheim Bilbao from September 29 to January 14, 2024.
Among the discussions raised by each event, different approaches to the artist’s life and work also emerge. In the case of Picasso in particular, an agenda that gained notoriety is the feminist perspective on his trajectory.
The exposition of Brooklyn Museum, for example, is co-curated by Hannah Gadsby, an Australian comedian who has already addressed machismo in Picasso’s life in her presentations. Curated by Lisa Small and Catherine Morris, the exhibition intends to engage with some of the issues of misogyny and masculinity that pervade the artist’s life. This curatorial work starts from the investigation of Picasso’s love life and the reports of the women with whom he had a relationship – two of whom committed suicide.
In Brazil, the immersive exhibition “Imagine Picasso” will bring more than 200 works by the artist to the country in projections. The creators of Imagine Picasso, Annabelle Mauger and Julien Baron, collaborated closely with art historian Androula Michael, a leading expert on Picasso’s works and career. Michael is the organizer of this exhibition to be held at MorumbiShopping from March 9th to June 18th.
Thanks to the use of projectors, the exhibition will be able to display works that would hardly be part of an exhibition in the country – both due to the logistical costs and even the transport restriction that some of the paintings have. “Imagine Picasso” takes the visitor on a multisensory celebration of Picasso’s work and multiple influences.
Influence and present day
Pablo Picasso, as already mentioned, participated in the avant-garde of abstract art in Europe. Alongside Georges Braque, he made Cubism one of the most iconic art movements of the early 20th century. Between the wars, Picasso began his flirtation with surrealism – the period in which he painted Guernica.
In addition to his involvement with important movements and artists with whom he was contemporary, Picasso, even after his death, continues to star in the headlines over the years.
One of his paintings from the series Women of Algiers, the painting “Versão O”, currently ranks third among the most expensive works in the world, sold in 2015 for US$179 million. The painting was, until 2022, the most expensive work of the 20th century sold at auction. In 2020, an unpublished work made in charcoal was auctioned by Sotheby’s, a consolidated auction house in the international art market.
Its staff have also been the protagonists of a series of actions carried out by activist groups. In 2022, art teacher María Llopis took some of her students to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona for a protest. They wore T-shirts with phrases like “Picasso abuser” and “Picasso abuser of women”.
In the same year, two climate activists from Extinction Rebellion glued their hands to the painting Massacre in Korea, displayed in the National Gallery of Victoria, in Melbourne, Australia. The activists carried a banner that read “climate chaos = war + hunger”. Also in 2022, around 30 anti-war activists protested in front of Guernica at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. Protesters played dead in protest at escalating war tensions in Ukraine.
If the name of Picasso has been making headlines through auctions and posthumous demonstrations, the painter also starred in other works during his lifetime, such as documentaries, films and books. In 1955, his friend Henri-Georges Clouzot convinced Picasso to participate in a documentary, “The Mystery of Picasso”, about his creative process. For the film, the artist created 20 canvases. Using special ink and paper, he elaborated the drawings while Clouzot filmed the reverse side of the canvas, capturing the work in real time.
Among the books about the author, the highlight is “My life with Picasso” by Françoise Gilot – considered one of the artist’s muses –, mother of the painter’s two children, Paloma and Claude. In the book Gilot humanizes one of the legends of painting. Picasso in the book is not a fantastic being endowed with supernatural talents, but an ordinary man who has achieved success. Considered the only woman who was able to abandon Picasso, and later expose the artist for his abuses, Gilot had to fight to get the book published.
The many faces of the artist
Picasso was a prolific artist – with more than 15,000 pieces produced –, he went through different artistic moments during his life – being at the forefront of more than one artistic movement in Europe – and his name carries with it the status of a myth. He has accumulated his own dose of controversy in his personal life. He has influenced, and continues to do so, countless other artists. He is, without a doubt, an artist who deserves to have his legacy investigated, discussed and revised.
Matheus Paiva is a cultural producer and internationalist, graduated from the University of São Paulo.
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