Picasso's Drawings, 1890–1921: Reinventing Tradition
October 4, 2011, through January 8, 2012

Works in the Exhibition

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This image of Fernande Olivier, made in a remote village in the Pyrenees, invokes a long tradition of idealized reclining nudes. Here, perhaps for the first time, the artist introduces overt discordances in the proportions of the body and transforms Fernande's classical features into a masklike visage.

This study sheet captures the intensity of Picasso's drawing activity at this point. Here he grapples with a way of representing the human body by simplifying yet rendering weight and volume in a new way. In his search for a direct figural style, Picasso makes use of his own stocky physique and facial features as a model.

Picasso's interest in ancient Iberian sculpture is evident in the blocky forms of the figures and masklike faces seen in this vibrant work. He accentuated the volume of the powerful seated nude in the center with splashes of blue ink.

This explorative sheet combines free-floating images of various sizes and manner of drawing. Picasso shades the large sculptural head with fine parallel lines and uses random marks — almost scribbles — for the hair. In another area, the toes of the flat-bottomed foot are sensitively rendered in a realistic mode.

In technique, this highly finished work recalls Picasso's early academic studies, while the figural style reflects his interest in the preclassical sculpture of the Iberian peninsula.

This drawing is part of a group of works that lead toward Picasso's revolutionary painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon of 1907. The work is infused with energy that recalls in some respects the red chalk and ink drawings of Michelangelo.

Although far removed from the norms of naturalistic art, the pose of this dynamic figure nevertheless evokes that of a life model. The slashing red and black parallel lines recall the striations often found on tribal masks.

The erased initial drawing remains visible under the bold contours of the head and facial features, creating an effect that suggests motion. Although the figure is generic, it bears some resemblance to his lover Fernande Olivier, well known for her almond-shaped eyes and chignon.

Here Picasso explores the tension between surface pattern and the illusion of depth. The rough application and blending of colors captures the effect of light filtered through dense foliage.

The angular and planar aspects of this nude reflect Picasso's exploration of the tribal arts of Africa and Indonesia and his own experiments in wood carving.

In these related scenes of bathers, Picasso integrates figures and landscape into rhythmic surface patterns. While in the earlier drawing, parts of the design are more clearly differentiated, in the second, he knits
them together with the rapid movement of his brush across the surface in zigzag lines.

The trees and rocks in the middle ground are faceted in such a way that they connect with the hills and sky above. The vigorous strokes of charcoal on the deeply colored jutting planes give them a sense of
projecting forward from the surface of the sheet of paper.

The simplified definition of the man's upper body serves to underscore the sculptural aspects of the head, defined by strong planes.

Walls expand as they recede into the distance and roofs fan outward following an internal visual logic that departs from the conventions of perspective. With thin veils of granular pigment, Picasso captures the rough texture of stucco walls and the dry, dusty atmosphere of this Catalonian mountain village.

Picasso appears to carve out space from the sheet with his forceful strokes of chalk, while areas of untouched paper serve as projecting planes that catch the light. The crystalline pattern of this sculptural drawing follows an order of its own, both conforming with and departing from the anatomy of the head.

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Major funding for the presentation in New York is provided by Bill and Donna Acquavella, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and the late Melvin R. Seiden.

Additional support is generously provided by Walter and Vera Eberstadt, Agnes Gund, the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, the Thaw Charitable Trust, Mr. and Mrs. Julio Mario Santo Domingo, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The exhibition is also supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

The accompanying catalogue has been underwritten by the Center for Spain in America and The Christian Humann Foundation.

* Reproduction, including downloading of Pablo Picasso works is prohibited by copyright laws and international conventions without the express written permission of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.