Discovering Picasso: Paris 1901 at Courtauld Institute
by Burlington Bertie
In 1901, Pablo Picasso, a penniless 19 year old artist had recently arrived in Paris from Barcelona and was living with a model in Montmartre in what he described as "a kind of Eden or dirty Arcadia". The influential art dealer Ambrois Vollard discovered him and gave him a debut solo exhibition which launched him on a career that would transform the face of art, making him, in the process, one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901 reunites 18 major paintings from his 1901 Paris debut as an artist, showing the intimate melancholic humanity of his early work before he moved on to the flat abstracts of modernism.
These early masterpieces evoke work by his older contemporaries Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Degas, from whom he drew inspiration; transforming, synthesizing and then reinventing their styles in his artistic journey.
This is a breathtaking and intensely moving exhibition. It is also the first and last time we shall see together this collection of paintings which heralded the birth of Picasso's genius.
Don't miss it!
Picasso, Matisse and Maillol: The Female Model
Concurrent with this exhibition, the Courtauld Institute has assembled a display of prints and drawing by Picasso exhibited alongside those of his contemporaries Henri Matisse and Aristide Maillol. This explores the central role of the female model as muse in their creative processes.
Becoming Picasso Paris 1901 Venue: Courtauld Institute, Somerset house, Strand, WC2R0RN. Tel: 020 7872 0220. Access: 10.00am-6.00pm, 14 February - 26 May, 2013. Tickets: Date timed. 6, (Concessions). 3 Mondays. Book online Wheelchair Accessibility: Yes. Call 020 7845 4600 for disability parking. Nearest Tube: Temple.
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