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Picasso. Moscow
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February 26 - May 23
Pushkin Fine Arts Museum 
The National Picasso Museum in Paris possesses a unique collection of works by the great artist. In 1985, Hotel Sale – a brilliant example of Louis XVI style architecture - located in the Marais quarter (Paris) sheltered the artist's private collection. The collection was handed over to the state by Picasso's family after his death instead of a regular inheritance tax. Jacqueline Picasso – the artist's wife – bequeathed to the museum a considerable number of Picasso's works and his private archive. Today Musee National Picasso is deservedly reputed as the major center of studying Picasso's life and work. All other collections of the artist's works consist of the paintings sold by Picasso himself or by the galleries. The National Picasso Museum's collection is the only one featuring works and objects so precious to Picasso that they accompanied the artist for 70 years of his artistic career. All of them bear the imprint of happy and tragic experiences of the master, keep secrets and mysteries of his deeply personal experiments. All these paintings, graphics, sculptures, objects, documents recreate the atmosphere of the master's creative laboratory and giving a strong feeling of Picasso still being there.
Picasso Museum being temporarily closed for reconstruction formed a travelling exhibition to go on display in several countries. With the centerpieces travelling all the routes, the exposition in general has a number of features depending on the country of display. Moscow exhibition includes 240 items plus incidental material: 88 paintings, 30 sculptures, 6 ceramic items, 61 drawings, 4 engravings, 39 original photographs, 12 illustrated books.
The exhibition opens with the works of early XX century – too dramatic for a young man "La Mort de Casagemas" (Death of Casagemas), works of the blue period bearing the imprint of melancholy ("La Celestina") as well as works of the pink period featuring images of circus artists and strolling musicians; gouache painting "Two Brothers" created in 1906 in Gosol. Paintings, graphics and sculpture of 1907-1908 including those related to the greatly influential for the contemporary art "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (The Young Ladies of Avignon) are to demonstrate cubism energy.
The major part of the exhibition covers the period since the mid-1920s when Picasso tended to surrealism. Being widely popular abroad, these compositions are rarely on display in Russia. The best halls of the Pushkin Fine Arts Museum are going to host paintings of this period. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes funny visions impressed in paintings, sculpture and sketches present free language of mature Picasso. "Games" with surrealism are changed by sharp and creepy works of late 1930s – early 1950s related to the theme of war and death – from "Cat Devouring a Bird" (1939) to the epic "Massacre in Korea" (1951).
The last final period of Picasso's artistic career – late 1950s – early 1970s – is presented by influential, resuming paintings entering a dialogue with great masters of the past ("Breakfast on the Grass by Manet", 1960). The epilogue finishes reviewing various facets of Picasso as an artists, his style's permanent metamorphosis.
More info
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