“¡ Picasso!” an unprecedented exhibition
The ¡Picasso! Anniversary exhibition presented on the five floors of Hôtel Salé illustrates the continuity and deep unity of the collection and the history of the museum. The Musée National Picasso-Paris has the world’s largest public collection of Pablo Picasso’s work, covering all his creative periods and all fields, including “Picasso’s Picassos” straight from the artist’s studio. Pablo Picasso’s personal archives and the museum’s archives are at the heart of this exhibition project. They echo the masterpieces and, as most of them have never been exhibited before, give a different interpretation of the life, creative process and circulation of the master’s artworks
A large visual collage invites visitors to go on a tour of the five floors of Hôtel Salé starting with the history of the museum (basement), discover a chronological presentation of the major works (ground floor and 1st floor), then “Pablo Picasso – public figure” (2nd floor), and meet the “private Picasso” (3rd floor). This is a contemporary interpretation of Picasso’s works that alternates between rooms featuring dense displays and more intimate sequences.
Selected artworks
The curators
Violette Andres
Sophie Annoepel–Cabrignac
Émilie Bouvard
Yve-Alain Bois
Laure Collignon
Laurent Le Bon
Nathalie Leleu
Virginie Perdrisot
Emilia Philippot
Jeanne-Yvette Sudour
Pictures
Celebrate the anniversary
Exhibition design
The architectural part of the exhibition design is based on a family of forms and devices for modular exhibitions.
Laid out so visitors can circulate freely, the set accompanies Picasso’s artworks and offers a formal connection with the museum’s built framework.
Four architectural variations (specific ornamental patterns and details) help identify the areas of the exhibition. These elements of style are inspired by and evoke the different compositional techniques in Picasso’s works: superimposition, collage, assemblage and deconstruction.
The play of modenatures, solids and hollows, matte finishes alternating with glossy finishes all create variations of language and assert its movement.
The transparency of the devices allows the superimposition and visual re-composition of different levels of interpretation and lets visitors take in the different media of works and the archive documents in one single glance. White was chosen so that the visitor’s eye would not be diverted from the artist’s different palettes.
The exhibition thus establishes closeness with the artworks, visitors are gradually immersed in the creative movement, encouraged to wander around the artworks freely and discover their singular nature and how they interact.
The exhibition at a glance
4 distinct parts: the history of the museum, the collection masterpieces, Picasso the public figure, Picasso the private figure
– 105 paintings (including 86 by Picasso)
– 92 sculptures (85 by Picasso) including 22 ceramic pieces, 13 objects and 1 textile artwork
– 192 graphic artworks (186 by Picasso) including 94 illustrations, 20 sketch books, 10 illustrated books, 62 prints and et 6 print matrices
– 190 photographs
– 1 contemporary installation
– 4 films and about 30 INA extracts
– 314 archives including 223 documents and correspondences, 38 periodicals, 31 publications and 22 objects
The anniversary document
Les équipes du Musée ont réalisé un documentaire pendant l’installation de l’exposition. Le documentaire ¡ Picasso ! a été réalisé pendant l’installation de l’exposition anniversaire des 30 ans du Musée national Picasso-Paris. Les paroles et les actes témoignent à l’écran du dialogue entre le passé et le présent du musée, à travers la conception de l’exposition, le travail sur les œuvres et l’accrochage dans l’Hôtel Salé. Le scénario déroule les étapes du projet, interroge les rôles de ses divers acteurs et instruit la méthode et les savoir-faire. Réflexion collective, questions et solutions techniques, vie et évolution du chantier sont captés au sein d’une expérience chorale. Œil en coulisse, support pédagogique, récit et spectacle d’activités voire bande annonce : ce documentaire peut être vu sous plusieurs angles selon l’attente de son public et sa réception. Il constitue quoi qu’il en soit une archive pour le futur – car le futur est aussi l’affaire d’un musée.
Curators interviews
Le musée national Picasso-Paris conserve l’œuvre de Pablo Picasso mais aussi la mémoire de sa propre activité. L’exposition anniversaire !Picasso! vous est livrée en quelques salles commentées par leurs commissaires. Certaines salles n’existeront peut-être plus lors de votre visite ; c’est pourquoi la parole de leurs commissaires est d’autant plus précieuse sur ce qu’elles ont été.
Constellations
The Musée national-Picasso Paris and Les Surgissantes invite you to explore the world of Pablo Picasso in a different way : Constellations .
The exhibition catalogue
The exhibition catalogue
Language : french
Pages : 544 pages / 700 illustrations
Dossier pédagogique "Picasso Anniversaire" - Format portrait
PDF - 1.13 MB
Dossier pédagogique "Picasso Anniversaire" - Format paysage
PDF - 1.09 MB