Picasso confronts his past masters

by Alison Hird

Article published on the 2008-10-12 Latest update 2008-12-11 14:59 TU

Poster of the Picasso exhibition

Picasso is undoubtedly the most famous painter of the twentieth (he’s even lent his name to a Renault car!). Retrospectives of his work are commonplace, but the “Picasso and the Great Masters” exhibition currently running at three Paris venues, aims to show a lesser-known side to the inventor of Cubism. Picasso admired - and was inspired by - the great masters: El Greco, Velasquez, Goya, Ingres, Titian, le Nain, Manet, Delacroix. At the Grand Palais, where the bulk of the exhibition is showing, the works are displayed thematically (portraits, nudes, black paintings, variations, etc), with Picassos next to the masterpieces that influenced or inspired him.

Visitors are encouraged to see a dialogue between the Cubist painter and his more classic predecessors.

Edouard Manet’s “Matador Saluant” (1866-67) stands next to Picasso’s “Le Matador”, while El Greco’s “Saint Martin and the Beggar” (1597-1599) clearly influenced Picasso’s 1905 work “Boy Leading a Horse”.

In a series called ‘Variations’, we see Picasso literally reworking the masters, in particular his compatriot Diego Velazquez. Picasso did 54 versions of Las Meninas (the Handmaidens) while living in exile in the south of France in the late ‘50s.

Picasso's 'Women of Algiers in Their Apartment (Version O), 1955
(Photo: © Picasso estate, 2008)

Delacroix's 'Women of Algiers in Their Apartment', 1834.
(Photo: Louvre/RMN/Thierry Le Mage)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Art critic Philippe Dagen has said they reveal the “solemn spectacle of royal power”.

In a room devoted to nudes, we see Picasso reinterpreting Venus as painted by Titian, Manet and Goya. In rendering them nude, Dagen says Picasso is revealing hidden desires and fantasies. Throughout Picasso’s work we see him “intensifying and radicalising the great themes of the history of art,” says Dagen.

Picasso's ' L'Infante Marguerite', 1957
(Photo: Picasso estate, 2008)

Diego Velázquez's ' L'Infante Marie Marguerite', circa 1653
(Photo: Louvre musem, Paris)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Picasso Magical Tour

There is undeniable pleasure in seeing so many chefs d’oeuvres gathered together under three roofs: the Grand Palais, the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre.  The French newspaper Libération calls it the ‘Picasso Magical Tour’.

But while individual works are remarkable, not everyone is convinced of the merits of the exhibition. Art historian Didier Rykner, who writes for thearttribune.com, said that while it works well when you see two paintings together showing Picasso’s direct inspiration from a great master, the link is far from clear with portraits or still lives.

“You could have put up any one of ten different still lives or self-portraits, and the effect would have been the same,” said Rykner. “It’s not clear why one choice was made rather than another.”

Rykner also questions the wisdom of moving precious masterpieces out of their places of residence. 

“I’m not sure Goya’s ‘Maja Desnuda’ is better here than in the Prado in Madrid,” he said. “Moving paintings is always risky.”

Indeed, the Prado refused to lend Velasquez’s ‘Las Meninas’, judging it just too precious. Visitors can see a photo of the painting projected onto a screen in order to see what inspired Picasso’s 54 variations.

The art trade-off

Picasso's 'Boy Leading a Horse', 1905
(Photo: © Picasso estate, 2008)

Many prestigious museums did lend their precious works: Rembrandt’s ‘Woman Paddling in a Stream’ came from the National Gallery; MoMa in NY lent ‘Boy leading a Horse’.

The organisers say it was a mammoth task that took three years of serious negotiating. That three esteemed French institutions made a joint demand also gave them more weight.

But the main reason the institutions agreed to lend the pieces, according to art critic Dagen, is the fashion for trading off exhibitions, what he calls the “lend me a Goya I’ll lend you a Picasso” phenomenon.

In the Le Monde newspaper he explained that since the Picasso museum in Paris will be closed for renovation from spring 2009 to spring 2010, it can easily loan its works during that time.

Anne Baldassari, head of the Picasso museum and co-curator of the Great Masters exhibition told Dagen how a deal had been struck with the National Gallery in London, whereby they agreed to lend several ancient masterpieces such as the portrait of Madame Moitessier by Ingres or Rembrandt’s ‘Woman Paddling in a Stream’. In return her museum will lend around 20 Picassos, allowing London to put on its own version of the exhibition in 2009.

And everyone benefits, except perhaps the visitor heading to Madrid’s Prado expecting to see Goya’s Nude Maya.

The exhibition runs until 2 February 2009.