Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Grand Palais Paris - Picasso et les maîtres

images courtesy rmn

Le Matador, Pablo Picasso, 4 octobre 1970 Huile sur toile, 145,5 x 114 cm, Musée Picasso, Paris © Succession Picasso 2008

Grand nu au fauteuil rouge, Pablo PicassoParis, 5 mai 1929 Huile sur toile, 195 x 129 cmMusée Picasso, Paris © Succession Picasso, 2008


L’Infante Marguerite, Pablo Picasso Cannes, 14 septembre 1957 Huile sur toile, 100 x 81 cm Museu Picasso, Barcelone


Let me take you to the Grand Palais, where I went to see a Picasso exhibition. No pictures allowed in the exhibition so I don't have images of Picasso's pictures other than those presented by the museum's website, but I took plenty of pictures of the beautiful Grand Palais for you. The place is so big and in the two side-wings of the building there are two exhibitions at the moment, Emil Nolde and Picasso. Unfortunately the "Grand Gallery" with it's magificent glass roof wasn't open to the public that day, but it sure looked good from outside too.

(BTW, I have been in love with this painter and his work ever since I was a little girl when I first saw reproductions of his paintings on postcards, in books...)

click here to read Press release and if you are interested, find an excerpt from the curator's introduction to the exhibition catalogue beneath the photographs









Anne Baldassari, Excerpt from the introduction to the exhibition catalogue:

"Bringing together 210 works from the most prestigious public and private, French and international collections, Picasso and the Masters at the Galeries nationales du Grand Palais takes stock of this process.

Confronting past and present, going beyond changes in style and formal innovations, the exhibition presents, in a cross between thematic and chronological approaches, guided by Picasso’s painting alone : El Greco, Vélasquez, Goya, Zurbaran, Ribera, Melendez, Poussin, Le Nain, Dubois, Chardin, David, Ingres, Delacroix, Manet, Courbet, Lautrec, Degas, Puvis de Chavannes, Cézanne, Renoir, Gauguin, Douanier Rousseau, Titien, Cranach, Rembrandt, Van Gogh. Spanish, French, Italian, or German, these artists are the multifaceted framework of a narrow motif in which painting learns from painting.

Unprecedented pictorial cannibalism is at work in Picasso’s approach. He made painting of painting into a system. Breaking away from the academic procedures of the transmission and reproduction of tradition – copy, paraphrase, quotation – this new method put painting at the very heart of knowledge of the world. Transposition, mimicry, deviation, distortion are some of the figures in the strategy used by Picasso in the treatment of his favourite painters. He thus fertilised the modus operandi of modern and contemporary creation, sometimes also pulling it towards perverse duplication, irony and pastiche."

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome post! I don't think I've ever seen those Picasso pieces. Isn't the last a take off on a, hmmm, well, another painter? Girl with something....I like that a lot! And your photos are amazing - I love good architectural photos and you've definitely got some here! How lovely to have that where you can just go see! I'm jealous!

Meg Wolff said...

Interesting that you were drawn to his work from a young age. Looks like a marvelous event.

Andrea and Kim said...

Andrea, I have also been enthralled by Picasso for a long time. I was not exposed to art a lot as a child, but once I had the introduction I was hooked.

This looks like a great exhibit to be sure and I know you enjoyed your time at the Grand Palace. The day looks like it was fantastic to be sure. How did you pull yourself away from this exciting time of exploring?

The photographs you have taken are fabulous and bring so many good memories of your lovely city. I think the images you share of the art work are really well chosen and so Picasso.

Thanks so much, Andrea! You are very sweet for sharing this with us.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the tour, Andrea. I enjoyed it very much. Two fantastic artists you mention here. So totally different. Did you also see Nolde? It would have been very difficult for me if i would have had to chose between the two.

sukipoet said...

Wow, look at all those people standing in line. Are your photos straight photos or did you overlay? They are just gorgeous. How marvelous to see the Picasso's esp as he was someone you admired from childhood. Is that last Picasso the dwarf girl from Velásquez (?)

Unknown said...

Hi my friends,
The girl on the last picasso painting:
L’Infante Marguerite, Pablo Picasso
Cannes, 14 septembre 1957
Huile sur toile, 100 x 81 cm
Museu Picasso, Barcelone

and yes Suki, this is what he painted with Velasquez in mind

Unknown said...

Tammy: thanks for your comment and yes, it was Velasquez. In fact, the whole exposition is constructed around this subject: Picasso painting and re-interpreting the old masters, so you have the original Velasquez "the infant" side by side with the infant Picasso painted inspired by Velasquez and doing "his" thing. Lost of ancient masters, I stood a long while looking at a stunning painting of El Greco, a painting from the 16th century, wondering at it's perfectness:), You are right, it is really lovely to be able to go and see this!

Unknown said...

Meg, I think it is because of the strong contrasts and surfaces and colours, kids are very much drawn to this, and to the masklike faces...

Unknown said...

Kim thanks so much for your comment, and yes it was hard to pull away from it but I was exhausted after an hour only! There were lots of people in there it is very dark and poorly lit, and it was overwhelming to see all this dense art! I will return to look again at these artworks because I think they won't pull something like that together often, with all those paintings from Velasquez, el Greco, Ingres, Degas, Manet, Gauguin too! Breathtaking and inspiring what he did when he worked "with" them in mind:)

Unknown said...

Martine: thanks so much for your comment,I haven't seen Nolde yet, I will, next week probably. In the meantime I saw Raoul Duffy and will share this visit with you soon on my blog!
But Nolde is a must, I can't wait to see his paintings, oh what a gift!
love
Andrea

Unknown said...

Suki, this was the line for the Picasso show but we had tickets and could go in almost immediately:)

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the pictures you took of the "grand palais", it was as if I was there and above all the sun was shining!

sukipoet said...

Andrea now that I understand the show better I do think it must have been so amazing to see so many famous works and the work Picasso did in "imitation." An unusual theme for a show. Whew, glad you had your tickets in hand!!!! Be well, Suki

Jill Smith said...

Thank you so much Andrea, the picture's are so good and just now l am trying to do a picture in Picasso style

soulbrush said...

OMG I LOVE Picasso, I love everything he's ever done...wow i am so envious....

patti said...

I love Paris, I love Picasso - just amazing, you are so lucky to be there. I will check out Emil Nolde - he's a new one for me.

Anonymous said...

Once again, I'm enthralled by the images.................you rock !

Philip said...

I have also been in love with Picasso's work since I was a boy! Its one of the reasons I now live in Spain.

Mirela said...

Hey, thanks for sharing your experience at the Grand Palais and this great Picasso show... I'm brazilian and I have seen like two or three Picasso's paintings here, at brazilian Art museums...
I linked this post at my blog, if you don't mind? As reference to the show!
:)