Picasso
1926
- 20th century
- amsterdam (netherlands)
- amsterdam (netherlands). stedelijk museum
- animals
- animals in art
- anniversaries
- art
- art collections
- avant-garde (aesthetics)
- ballet
The story
In 1946, when Picasso received the offer to use one of the great rooms in the castle at Antibes as a studio, he exclaimed enthusiastically: “I'm not only going to paint, I'll decorate the museum too.” The result was a series of paintings and drawings that reflected the jubilant spirit, the joie de vivre, of a country that was free once more. Picasso later added sculptures, graphic works, and ceramics to this collection, forming the basis for what would be France's first museum dedicated to him, inaugurated in 1966 as Musée Picasso, Antibes.This catalog, published in conjunction with the exhibition of Palazzo Grassi, comprises a great selection of the most outstanding works from the Musée Picasso of Antibes, a large number of which have never been shown beyond the museum's walls. These include the murals La Joie de Vivre, 1946, The Sea Urchin Eater, 1946, and the impressive sculpture Head of Woman with Chignon, 1932. Featuring paintings, drawings, sculptures, and ceramics, the works illustrate a splendid period in Picasso's artistic career. The volume also includes a selection of photographs of Picasso by Polish artist Michel Sima, which portray the context in which Picasso created the works.
What it’s like
Sun-bleached Mediterranean brightness on large glossy plates, with a loose, sensual energy running through it. Full-colour reproductions of murals and easel paintings sit beside sculptures and ceramics photographed against plain backgrounds, and the black-and-white studio photographs by Michel Sima add a quieter, documentary register, showing Picasso at work in the rooms of the Antibes castle. The mood is warm, playful and celebratory, with the pleasure of a country newly free rendered in bold outlines, flat fields of colour and mythic figures: fauns, sea creatures and women in profile. The reading rhythm is unhurried and browsing-friendly, more a gallery walk than a narrative, with short essays and catalogue notes that can be taken a few pages at a time. There is no violence, cruelty or sexual content; the only tension is the stylistic restlessness of a great artist testing his range. It suits a slow weekend afternoon, a coffee-table dip, or anyone who wants to spend time with mid-century modernism in its sunniest mood, particularly readers drawn to art history, Picasso, or the visual culture of postwar Europe.
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