PABLO PICASSO, LE PEINTRE ET SON MODÈLE, 28.3.1963 Öl auf Leinwand, 130 x 162 cm Nahmad Collection © Succession Picasso/2022, ProLitteris, Zurich

Picasso. Artist and Model – last Paintings

Fondation Beyeler

until May 1, 2023

Joining the international commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), the Fondation Beyeler will present a selection of ten late paintings in one room concerned with images of artist and model.

PABLO PICASSO, TÊTE D’HOMME, 19.1.1972 Öl auf Leinwand, 100 x 81 cm Anthax Collection Marx, Dauerleihgabe Fondation Beyeler © Succession Picasso/2022, ProLitteris, Zurich
PABLO PICASSO, TÊTE D’HOMME, 19.1.1972
Öl auf Leinwand, 100 x 81 cm
Anthax Collection Marx, Dauerleihgabe Fondation Beyeler
© Succession Picasso/2022, ProLitteris, Zurich

These highly expressive works created in the last decade of Picasso’s career, attest to the artist’s undiminished creative energy and productivity up to the end of his life. In these paintings, Picasso explores the (self)-image of the artist and the creative act as well as the image of the female body. For contemporary viewers, they also raise questions regarding the representation of women in art today.

PABLO PICASSO, LE PEINTRE ET SON MODÈLE, 26.3.1963 Öl auf Leinwand, 130 x 162 cm Esther Grether Familiensammlung © Succession Picasso / 2022, ProLitteris, Zürich
PABLO PICASSO, LE PEINTRE ET SON MODÈLE, 26.3.1963
Öl auf Leinwand, 130 x 162 cm
Esther Grether Familiensammlung
© Succession Picasso / 2022, ProLitteris, Zürich

2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death and thus places the year under the sign of the celebration of his work in France, Spain and internationally. To celebrate Picasso’s legacy today is a way to question what this major work for western modernity represents today. It is to show its living, accessible and current part.

The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 is initiated by the Musée national Picasso-Paris and Bernard Picasso, grandson of the artist and president of the FABA and the Picasso Museum in Malaga. It is structured around some fifty exhibitions and events to be held in renowned cultural institutions in Europe and North America, which, together, thanks to new interpretations and approaches, will make it possible to review the state of studies and understanding of Picasso’s work.