Pablo Picasso – The Maids of Homer (1957), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Pablo Picasso, whose relentless explorations of form, representation and perspective fundamentally shifted the art world as one of the defining minds of the 20th century avant-garde.  Moving among a broad variety of approaches, techniques and media, the Spanish painter and sculptor created a vast body of work that defined him as a singular talent and powerful voice for years to come.  Now, the Guggenheim Museum in New York City is exhibitinf a massive exhibition of Picasso works, focusing on the black and white works.

Pablo Picasso – Woman Ironing (La repasseuse), Bateau-Lavoir, Paris, spring 1904,  courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Pablo Picasso – Woman With a Vase (1933), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

A master of color, contrast and composition, Picasso time and again showed his ability to create complexly textured, expressive works with a minimum of color.  Many of his most powerful works used only various shades of black and white, including his masterful Maid of Homer.  In an effort to underline this aspect of Picasso’s expansive oeuvre, The Guggenheim has compiled a broad range of works rendered only in grisaille.

Pablo Picasso РMarie-Th̩r̬se, Face and Profile (1931), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Spanning most of the artist’s career, the show runs from 1904 to 1971, and spans most of the artistic innovations and developments of the artist’s career, from his early portraiture and figure drawing through his explorations into abstraction and cubism, to his explorations of multiple-perspective and abstract expression of the human form.

Pablo Picasso - Head of a Horse, Sketch for Guernica (Tête de cheval, étude pour Guernica),  courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Focusing on Picasso’s relentless drive and relative ambivalence to color contrasts, the show allows a strong perspective on the artist’s evolution of themes, and his position of prominence in the world of 20th century art.

Pablo Picasso – Bust of a Woman, Arms Raised (1922), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Pablo Picasso – Seated Woman in an Armchair (1938), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Pablo Picasso – Accordionist (1911), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Pablo Picasso –  The Milliner’s Workshop (Atelier de la modiste), Paris, January 1926,  courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

All photos © 2012 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: CNAC/MNAM/Dist. Réunion des Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY, Courtesy of Guggenheim Museum.

The show has been curated by Carmen Giménez, The Stephen and Nan Swid Curator of Twentieth-Century Art, with the assistance of Karole Vail, Associate Curator. The exhibition is sponsored by Bank of America and will be on view until January 23rd, 2013.

—D. Creahan

Suggested Links
[Pablo Picasso]
[The Guggenheim]
[Exhibition Site]

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