Picasso’s body of work, which he pursued throughout his life, seems endless. Every time I think I’ve seen something new by this artist, more and more works appear, and his vast output is truly admirable. As an artist, he was a genius, and the sheer volume of his work, its variety and his creativity are something to be celebrated.
As I mentioned before, I had already visited the Picasso Museum, but photography wasn’t allowed. After the pandemic, the rules were relaxed, and over the last few months I’ve spent several Sundays visiting this great museum, which from the outside is an old building and looks small, but inside feels as vast as the sea; you never quite finish exploring its rooms, which resemble a huge labyrinth with many chambers.
The first Sunday I went, a few months ago, I visited the artist’s Collection 1 and then continued my visit through the temporary exhibitions; in other words, I missed more than half of the permanent collection in the museum, probably because with so many rooms and areas I got lost within the museum itself.
The second time I visited, I realised that the exhibition was ongoing; it is essentially a permanent Picasso exhibition, divided into stages, each clearly marked with a number, and in each section there is a detailed explanation of what is on display.
Another important point is that all the explanations are in two languages, Spanish and English; I believe this is due to the number of tourists who visit the museum each day. The number of people I see queuing at the entrance is staggering. To visit Málaga and not go to the Picasso Museum is to miss out on one of the city’s most important attractions.
For all these reasons, Pablo Picasso’s Collection 2 begins with Section 5, which deals with the transformation of the mind and body. Picasso inspired the Surrealist movement; he had transformative ideas. Surrealism abandoned restrictions on thought or action and allowed access to every corner of the human mind.
Thus, Picasso proved particularly innovative in sculpture and in famous works such as those presented in this section: sculptures related to women and his idea of creating monumental sculptures to be placed on the beach at Cannes.
The sculpture “Woman Leaning” is that famous example that breaks with convention: a woman in a Greek tunic, made of plaster using cardboard moulds as a base and carved by hand.
“Head of a Woman” 1951
“Bather with a ball” 1929, oil on canvas.
“Paul” (The artist’s son) 1922, oil and ink on canvas.
“Maternity” 1923, charcoal on canvas with coloured ground.
In 1931, Picasso set up a plaster sculpture studio at his country house, and a feature article about him helped to publicise it and interpret his sculptures as surrealist, although there have been other interpretations on the matter.
Section 6 is dedicated to Picasso’s great creativity, where, during the interwar period, the artist developed Cubism, Classicism and Surrealism in a spectacular manner. His creativity knew no bounds and, as I said at the beginning, it seems as though the number of his works is endless.
His works are expressive and often push the images to the brink of chaos.
‘Reclining Bather’, 1931, varnished plaster.
‘Woman’, 1927, oil on canvas.
All these works are related to women; the materials he used include plaster, metal, bronze, stone and clay.
“Bust of a Woman”, 1948, oil on canvas.
“Woman in a Red Armchair”, 1931, oil on canvas.
Section 7 deals with Picasso’s works during the Second World War, as both this war and the Spanish Civil War challenged the artist to create his works using whatever materials he could obtain. His works, both paintings and sculptures, reflected the consequences of the wars, such as hunger, as well as portraits of people in prisons.
“Bull’s Head”, 1942, bronze.
“Rooster and Knife on a Table”, 1947, oil on plywood.
“The Tied Rooster”, 1962, modified oil painting on canvas.
One section mentions the move from the studio to the salon and the liberation of Paris. From that moment on, many people began to visit the artist in his studio, including photographers, to see his latest works. The canvases depicted the darkness of war. Thus, Picasso exhibited 74 paintings and 5 sculptures at the Salon de la Libération in 1944.
Finally, section 8 tells us about the post-war renaissance. It was there that Picasso moved to the south of France in 1946, and this marked the revival of his entire artistic output, giving rise to many styles, further developing his creativity, innovating, and surpassing many artists of the past.
“Figure” 1946, oil and modified oil paint on plywood.
“Jacqueline Seated” 1954, oil on canvas.
“Reclining Nude (The Voyeurs)” 1955, oil on canvas.
“Woman Seated in an Armchair” 1960, oil on canvas.
“Seated Figure” 1971, oil on canvas.
“Woman Seated with a Hat” 1961, oil on canvas.
In the final section of this gallery, and to round off this wonderful exhibition, there is a focus on the UNESCO mural, a work created by Picasso between 1957 and 1958, which was the largest work of his entire career. It was commissioned by this organisation, which had only recently been established. It was titled “The Fall of Icarus” and presented a major challenge for the artist, which he, of course, was able to overcome.
As I mentioned, the museum has many more exhibitions on the artist, which are often replaced by others, also about him, and it’s always wonderful to go and visit them.
Thank you very much for joining me today; I send you my warmest regards. See you soon.
Amonet.
All photographs are my own.
Separators created by me in Photoshop.
Used translator Deepl.com free version.
//:# (!worldmappin 36.721566 lat -4.418258 long Pablo Picasso – Collection 2 – Through periods of history, forms, paintings and sculptures 📷 Málaga – Spain d3scr)