April 8, 2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso and as a celebration of the anniversary, 50 exhibitions and events are scheduled in 38 institutions, most of them in Spain, 16; in France, 12, and the United States, 7; and among others, two in Germany, two in Switzerland, one in the Principality of Monaco, one in Romania and one in Belgium.
This is an “unprecedented” artistic mobilization for the “most famous artist of modern art”, according to Paris and Madrid.
The preparation of these exhibitions has been carried out jointly by France and Spain for 18 months. The “Picasso Year” or also called “Picassian Year” will mobilize 38 institutions of great relevance in Europe and the United States.
The exhibitions will show all the facets of the Spanish artist, born in Malaga (southern Spain) in 1881 and who died in Mougins (southeastern France) in 1973, accompanied in parallel by a series of colloquiums and debates on the painter and his work. .
It should be noted that the celebrations began on September 23 at the Mapfre Foundation, in Madrid, with the exhibition “Pablo Picasso and the dematerialization of sculpture”, and will last until April 2024, when the retrospective ends.
The events in homage to the Spanish painter, whom the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, described as “the most famous and emblematic artist of modern art”, will take place mainly in Spain, France and the United States, although there will also be activities in Germany, Switzerland, Romania and Belgium.
Participating institutions include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (Met), the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Pompidou Center in Paris and the Picasso museums in Barcelona and Paris.
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“Excesses” and “contradictions”
The exhibitions will serve to highlight “the immense legacy left” by Picasso, whose work “continues to be an absolute reference for artists from all over the world,” said the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, at a ceremony at the Reina Sofía Museum.
A message that had already been evoked by the Minister of Culture of Spain, Miquel Icetawhen he spoke of “the validity” of Picasso’s work, in front of the painting of the Guernicaone of the most famous in the world, the work of the painter from Malaga in 1937.
This painting, which immortalized the massacre that occurred in the city of Guernica, bombed in April 1937 by Nazi aircraft in support of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), is “a manifesto for peace,” Rima said. Abdul Malak.
The work “acquires a special connotation” at a time when “war is raging at the gates of Europe and we are together with the Ukrainian people,” insisted the French minister, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Beyond the political and historical references, the retrospectives organized within the “Picasso Year” will be the occasion, according to the organizers, to also address the “excesses” and “contradictions” of the artist.
Picasso’s figure, long extolled for his artistic genius, has been marred for some years now by accusations of misogyny and violence against partners, brought to light after the rise of the #MeToo movement.
The author of “The Young Ladies of Avignon” or “The Weeping Woman”, who spent much of his life in France, was accused by the journalist Sophie Chauveau in his work “Picasso, the Minotaur” of being a “jealous” man. , “perverse” and “destroyer”.
“It is important that the public get to know Picasso better and also know the part of violence that was in him. It is something that must not be hidden,” acknowledged Rima Abdul Malak, who nevertheless considered it necessary “not to reduce all of Picasso’s work.” to that topic.
The Spanish painter and sculptor’s relationship with women will be addressed in an exhibition scheduled for the Brooklyn Museum in New York this year.
Picasso is one of the most famous painters in the history of Western art. His expressive, free and multiform language continues to influence contemporary art and reflection. The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 aims to value the career of an essentially European artist, who, from a deep knowledge of the heritage and the principles of tradition and an understanding of classicism as an ethical value, internationally projected such universal symbols as Guernica, today collective emblem in the defense of human rights.
Both in Europe and in the United States, the exhibitions and programs associated with the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 highlight the influence of the artist throughout the 20th century and his continuous reference for artists of the 21st century, from a wide variety of approaches.
The commemoration program will provide the opportunity to take stock of the research and interpretations on Picasso’s work, from the congress that took place at the end of 2022, at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, to an important international symposium. to be held in Paris between December 6 and 8, 2023 at UNESCO headquarters.