Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man
How an unknown Spanish painter took the art world by storm, writes Ian Sclater
Self-portrait with
a palette, 1906, Philadelphia Museum
of Art, A.E. Gallatin Collection
‘Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907’, currently showing at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, is the first major retrospective in Holland of Picasso’s work from his early Paris period. The exhibition brings together a significant group of works tracing those first crucial years in his artistic development, as he drew on influences around him to grow into the leading figure of the French avant-garde.
In 1900, the unknown Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), then a provincially trained Spanish painter of 19, travelled for the first time to Paris, the cultural centre of the avantgarde movement and the place for artists from all over the world to meet.
Of more than 70 works on display in ‘Picasso in Paris’, around 20 are by other artists. Edwin Becker, head of exhibitions at the Van Gogh Museum, explains: “People will see that Picasso worked in a context. His work is not created out of the blue. When he arrives in Paris, he’s opening his eyes and studying all these things around him and responding. He wasn’t closing his eyes and going his own way.”
Still life,
1901, Museu Picasso, Barcelona
The exhibition, which showcases loans from private collections as well as leading museums such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum, is divided into four periods:
‘Picasso discovers Paris’ shows how his exposure for the first time to the work of Cezanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Toulouse- Lautrec and others led him to experiment with new colours and techniques, depicting Paris subjects such as Montmartre’s nightlife and cafe scenes. (Throughout his career Picasso absorbed whatever he needed from other artists’ work in order to develop his own.)
Casagemas in his coffin, 1901, private
collection, courtesy James Roundell
‘Picasso as a Symbolist’ sees his style developing further and entering his ‘Blue Period’, marked by the suicide of his friend Carles Casagemas and during which he produced sad, melancholic works.
‘The life of the bohemians’ focuses on Picasso’s interaction with other artistic immigrants to Paris who frequented his atelier and on his interest in circus performers.
‘An innovative, modern style’ heralds the emergence of Picasso’s own revolutionary style, which would change the course of 20th century art.
Also featured is ‘Stepping out in Montmartre’, an exhibition of posters, prints, Portrait of the artist as a young man theatre programmes, books, paintings and films evoking the atmosphere of turn of the century Paris.
‘Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907’ is curated by
the renowned Picasso expert Marilyn
McCully and organised jointly by the Van
Gogh Museum and the Museu Picasso in
Barcelona, where the exhibition runs after
Amsterdam from June 30 to October 15.
‘Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907’, until May 29, Van Gogh
Museum, Amsterdam, www.vangoghmuseum.nl
DID YOU KNOW?
Picasso’s last words were “Drink to me. Drink to my health. Because you know I can’t drink anymore.”
Singer/songwriter Don McLean’s “Vincent” is played every morning at the opening of the Van Gogh Museum.
