© Sucesión Picasso / VEGAP Madrid 2022
The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, an initiative promoted by the governments of Spain and France that pays tribute to the artist on the 50th anniversary of his death, has registered more than one million visitors in the 22 national and international exhibitions that have been inaugurated in its first half.
MORE THAN 400,000 VISITORS IN SPAIN ALONE
The Government of Spain, in collaboration with the Government of France, has made 2023 the Year of Picasso thanks to a joint program, the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, which is the first international collaborative tribute highlighting Picasso's life and work, through fifty exhibitions and events at renowned cultural institutions throughout Europe and the United States.
In this first phase of the commemoration, eight exhibitions have already been inaugurated in Spain, attracting more than 400,000 people. In addition, before the end of this first semester, an exhibition on his ceramics will open at the Museu del Disseny in Barcelona; and at the Musée Goya in Castres (France), another on Picasso's fascination with the Spanish master, author of works such as 'La maja desnuda', the paintings of May 2 and 3 or 'Portrait of the Duchess of Alba'.
The projects have presented lesser-known facets such as that of sculptor at the Picasso Museum in Malaga and at the MAPFRE Foundation, where he contrasted with the work of his friend Julio Gonzalez. His birthplace in Malaga and the Museo de Belas de Artes in A Coruña, the cities of his childhood and early adolescence, have influenced his artistic formation and evolution.
Picasso's personal and professional relationships that influenced his work have also been analyzed in this phase. The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza explored his collaborations with Chanel, while the Museu Picasso Barcelona presented Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, one of the most important art dealers of the 20th century and a key figure in Pablo Picasso's career.
The Museo Nacional del Prado exhibits in the El Greco rooms Picasso's analytical cubism, evidencing his admiration for the masters; while in La Casa Encendida it is the younger ones who look at him, renaming his works to propose a reading from the present.
COMMEMORATION OF APRIL 8
There are many and varied activities, theater and music cycles, shows, workshops and conferences that institutions have organized to give context to the artist.
Among them, the film series 'Misterio Picasso (1973-2023)' organized by the Filmoteca Española and the Instituto Universitario del Cine Español Carlos III at the Cine Doré; or the International Congress Picasso from the cultural studies. Dream and Lie of Spain (1898-1922), organized by the Reina Sofia Museum in December. The Museum of Fine Arts of A Coruña has approached in its series of conferences the first traces of the artist, 'Picasso through the cinema' and 'Picasso and his cities'; while the Museu Picasso Barcelona has invited the public to know the poetry of Picasso, the most unknown side of the artist and in which it will be possible to deepen even more in the remaining programming.
INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM
The tribute to Picasso goes beyond Spanish borders. In fact, in this first phase of the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, the public has been able to explore and delve deeper into his career in 14 other exhibitions in Europe and the United States that have captivated more than 600,000 visitors.
The Musée National Picasso-Paris, the main lender of Picasso's works to participating institutions and coordinator of the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 outside Spain, has made a selection of masterpieces from its collection which, with the collaboration of designer Paul Smith, has been given a visual context through a spectacular and highly creative presentation.
In the rest of France, exhibitions have covered various themes such as the influence of Poussin on his work, at the Musée de Beaux-Arts in Lyon; or that of Goya, at the Musée Goya in Castres. The Musée Magnelli, Musée de la Céramique-Vallauris explored the period when Picasso lived in the south of France, where he began to experiment with ceramics. The Musée Picasso in Antibes exhibited some of his last paintings painted between 1969-1972; while the Musée de Montmartre in Paris addressed Picasso's significant relationship with Fernande Olivier, model, artist and his first wife. The Musée de l'Homme-Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, has also shown the extent to which prehistoric art nourished Picasso's work.
In the United States, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York has approached Picasso's beginnings during his stay in Paris; and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also in New York, has delved into the Cubist language. The Mint Museum, in North Carolina, and The Cincinnati Art Museum, in Ohio, have revealed one of the least explored facets of Picasso, his landscapes. The figure of Picasso has also been approached from a feminist perspective at the Brookyn Museum in New York.
The Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli has exhibited Picasso's trip to Italy in 1917 and his fascination with the excavations of Pompeii, which had a significant impact on the emergence of naturalism in his work.
The Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, in Belgium, has offered a dialogue between Picasso's work and the history of abstract art. For its part, the Kunstmuseum Pablo Picasso Münster, in Germany, has devoted an extensive exhibition to Fernande Olivier and Françoise Gilot, two of Picasso's companions for many years, the only two women who left a written record of their experiences with the artist.
In Switzerland, the Fondation Beyeler presented a selection of the last paintings and sculptures that Picasso created in the last decade of his career, and the Kunstmuseum Basel, in Bâle, developed the influence of El Greco on Picasso, now condensed in the Prado Museum, in what was the inaugural exhibition of the Picasso Celebration program.
A SECOND SEMESTER FULL OF ACTIVITIES
The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, which began last June in Basel, has succeeded in these twelve months in reflecting the enduring appeal of the figure of Pablo Picasso, considered an international reference and a symbol of creativity.
In the coming months, 17 other exhibitions will be inaugurated around the world, seven of them in Spain. Highlights include major exhibitions at the Reina Sofía Museum, the Guggenheim Bilbao and the joint project of the Fundació Joan Miró and the Museu Picasso Barcelona. In addition, the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid and the Fundació Palau in Caldes d'Estrac will present captivating proposals. Likewise, the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum and the Picasso Museum in Malaga will offer second readings as part of this program.