Donación de Pablo Picasso al Art Institute, Chicago
© Sucesión Picasso, VEGAP 2024
In 1965, the architect Jacques Brownson of C. F. Murphy Associates designed the Richard J. Daley Center in Chicago, an international-style building with an open plaza in front, intended to house a sculpture. It was a project that architect William Hartmann had already proposed two years earlier and which was of enormous appeal to Picasso, who had only completed one other monumental work of this type in Marseilles, France.
For months, Hartmann and Picasso met to advance the design of the sculpture and the technical modifications that the engineering team was introducing to ensure the 15-meter height of the structure and its resistance to the force of the wind. Picasso was astonished by the complications of the work, which he told photographer Roberto Otero: "What an outrage! Do you realize? I understand that about twenty architects have been working on this for more than a year... If I thought about these things while I was working, I don't know if I could do it."
During the development of the project, Picasso, intrigued by the challenge and guided by his creativity, modeled two steel maquettes, one for himself and one for Hartmann, which is preserved at the Art Institute of Chicago. This version of the model was on view during the commemoration for the first time in Spain both at the Museo Picasso Málaga in Picasso escultor. Matter and body, as well as in MIRÓ-PICASSO at the Museu Picasso Barcelona.
The monumental sculpture was fabricated in corten steel by the American Bridge Company in Indiana. The 162-ton pieces were assembled in Chicago, a process kept secret from the public by awnings and scaffolding.
This was one of the last sculptures Picasso created and its unveiling on August 15, 1967 drew a crowd. Following the event, Hartmann visited Mougins (France), where Picasso resided, with a check for $100,000 which the artist declined expressing his desire for the work to be a gift to the people of Chicago. Over time the monument has become an icon of Chicago's urban landscape.
Sources:
Museo Picasso Málaga:
Una maqueta, un monumento y un sombrero | Museo Picasso Málaga (museopicassomalaga.org)
Art Institute of Chicago:
Maquette for Richard J. Daley Center Sculpture | The Art Institute of Chicago (artic.edu)
MoMa (Museum of Modern Art de Nueva York):
Pablo Picasso. Maquette for Richard J. Daley Sculpture Center. 1964 | MoMA