Picasso by Picasso: His First Museum Exhibition 1932

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Individual Artists

Picasso by Picasso: His First Museum Exhibition 1932 Details

Recreating Picasso's first museum retrospective curated by the artist himself, this book provides a unique historical and artistic perspective on a towering figure in modern art.

Reviews

This beautiful book is the catalogue for an exhibition held until january 2011 at the Kunsthaus Zurich; it documents the first ever museum retrospective of the work of the Spanish master, an original show that was also held at the Kunsthaus in 1932. That show was actually one of the first "contemporary art" retrospective ever held by a public institution (i.e. an exhibition entirely devoted to an artist still alive at the time of the show) and, as such, it was an ancestor to the current blockbuster shows of contemporary artists that are now the norm in many modern art museums. The introductory essays serve as reminders of how important that show was for the recognition of Picasso's work and especially the focus on the "late" works from the years 1931-1932 which are harbingers of future developments in Picasso's career (i.e. Guernica and a growing political commitment).The illustrations are wonderful not only of the paintings in the exhibition, but also of installation views of the original retrospective. What is also noteworthy is that many of the works still belong to private collections and therefore seldom appear in books about the artist.A valuable addition to the enormous literature on Picasso.

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