PICASSO IN SPANISH COLLECTIONS

Pablo Picasso (Málaga, 1881-Mougins, 1973) is probably the artist who has had the most decisive influence on art in the twentieth century. Although he lived most of his life outside of his country from the time he was twenty years old, he continued to feel an unwavering loyalty, both politically and affectively, for his homeland. The purpose of Picasso in Spanish Collections is to analyze how the painter from Malaga was collected in his own country and, in this way, illuminate his relationship to Spain.

The earliest work in the exhibition is the Nude Torso of Adolescent /Torso desnudo de Adolescente (1895), a splendid example of his formative years, a period that Cirici Pellicer has termed “Picasso before Picasso”. His modernist, bohemian period,from around the turn of the century is represented by several works on paper: Women Walking on a Windy Day /Damas paseandose en un día ventoso (1900), Woman with a Hat / Mujer con sombrero (1901), or Portrait of Santiago Rusiñol / Retrato de Santiago Rusiñol (1901). The same can be said of his so-called Blue Period, with such representative works as Casagemas Nude / Casagemas nu (1904) and The Frugal Repast / La comida frugal (1904). A good example of his Rose Period is the oil Demi-un à la cruche (1906). His encounter with primitive art, the gradual and laborious elaboration of Cubism, with its analytical and synthetic phases, can be followed through sculpture: Female Mask / Masque de femme (1908); oils such as The reapers /Los segadores (1957) and Man with a Clarinet / Hombre con clarinete (1911-12); or his gouache, Person with a Guitar / Personaje con guitarra (1920). The Classical period Is represented by drawings such as The Wrestlers / Los luchadores (1921) and etchings: The Three Bathers II /Los Tres Bañistas II (1920). The same can be said of his incursion into Surrealism, exemplified by the oil, Figure (1928) and the etching, Surrealist Figures at the Seashore / Figuras surrealistas a la orilla del mar (1932). Picasso´s own personal expressionism is recorded in the formidable Woman with a Vase / Femme au vase (1933). A moment of particular interest to the Spanish viewer is the year 1937, with a series of preparatory works for Guernica, such as the sketch, Composition Study IV (1937), and the oil painting, Horse´s Head /Cabeza de caballo (1937). In his later years it is more difficult to establish his stylistic phases, although it is possible to categorize the different series around certain themes. An example of this is his reinterpretation of paintings that gave rise to one of his more successful series, Las Meninas, represented here by the oil, María Agustina de Sarmiento (num. 3) (1957). Another one of his favorite subjects is the painter and his model, with three examples, among others: The Painter and His Model / Le peintre et son modéle, Reclining Nude with Male Bust / Nu allongé et buste d’homme and The Painter at Work / Le peintre au travail (all three from 1964). From the Musketeer series, there is Musketeer with His Hands Clasped / Mosquetero con las manos juntas (1967), Musketeer with a Pipe / Mosquetaire à la pipe (1967) and Musketeer with Sword and Cupid / Mosquetero con Espada y amorcillo (1969). Special mention should be made of his graphic works, done with techniques ranging from dry point, Acrobats / Saltimbanquis (1905) to linocut, The Hat with Flowers / Le chapeau à fleurs (1963). Alongside etchings from two of his most important series, the Suite Vollard and the Suite 156, there are others belonging to books illustrated by the artist such as Max Jacob´s Saint Matorel (1911), Ovid´s Metamorphoses (1930) and Pepe Hillo´s La Tauromaquia (1959). Lastly, Picasso, the stupendous Draftsman, is reflected in Standing Man with Sheep / Homme debout au mouton (1943) or Portrait of Rosa Hugué / Retrato de Rosa Hugué (1954). The entire exhibition contains a total of 133 works on loan from both public and private collections.Those represented are the 4 monographic museums devoted to the artist´s work (Museo Picasso de Barcelona, Museo de Málaga, Museo de Buitrago and the Museo Casa Natal); 10 Spanish museums with significant works (among the outstanding ones are the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection), the Biblioteca Nacional and the Biblioteca de Cataluña, 7 galleries, 44 private collections and 9 collections belonging to financial, business and private foundations. Picasso in Spanish Collections offers the visitor the opportunity to contemplate many works which are not ordinarily accessible to the public. Some have never been seen before: A Modernist Painter Surrounded by Onlookers / Un pintor modernista rodeado de curiosos (1900), Pipe, Glass and Tobacco Pouch / Pipe, verre et paquet de tabac (1918) and Woman in an Armchair / Femme au fauteil (1970). This, then, is what we might call a “sociological” exhibition, insofar as it takes into account not only which works were collected, but also by whom they were collected. Moreover, a group of works of this category cannot help but be seen from the critical perspective of its splendid quality. All the periods of Picasso´s entire artistic trajectory are represented by 30 oil paintings, 60 original works on paper done in various techniques, 5 sculptures, two tapestries and a broad spectrum of his work as a a graphic artist. This exhibition affords the visitor an exceptional opportunity to view the work of this magnificent artist and, in addition, to do so in the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, devoted to a painter who, like Picasso himself, also lived most of his life outside his homeland.

Sponsored by Caja Segovia, Ministerio de Cultura and Fundación del Patrimonio Histórico de Castilla y León.