By Jay Forte, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After a period of nearly three months at the Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo, from May 22nd to August 14th, the exhibition “Picasso: Mão Erudita, Olho Selvagem” (Classical Hand, Wild Eye) arrived in Rio de Janeiro at the Caixa Cultural Rio earlier this week, on September 13th.
The exhibition brings together 138 works by Pablo Picasso, including paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, ceramics and photographs, belonging to the Musée National Picasso, in Paris, and covers the main stages of the Spanish artist’s life (born in Málaga in 1881 and died in Mougins, France, in 1973).
Organized by the Instituto Tomie Ohtake, in partnership with the French institution, the exhibition allows the public a rare immersion in Pablo Picasso’s universe through works largely unseen in Brazil. The exhibit is curated by Emilia Philippot and Musée Picasso in France.
“The exhibition is more than a chronological theme. We asked the Picasso Museum [for work that] shows covering the various stages of Picasso, youth, phases of blue and pink after cubism, the more graphic, surrealism, politics, art, and the final phase of his life,” the director of the Tomie Ohtake Institute, Ricardo Ohtake, told the press.
Also part of the show are 22 photographs taken by Andre Villers (1930-2016), in partnership with Picasso, and three photographs of Pierre Manciet taken during the filming of “Life Begins Tomorrow” (La Vie Commence Demain, 1949), by Nicole Védrès in the artist’s studio.
The film can be seen by the public, as well as two others: Guernica (1950), by Alain Resnais and Robert Hessens which addresses the masterpieces of the painter, and The Mystery of Picasso (1956), by Henri-Georges Clouzot about the artist’s creative process.
“These films give a perfect idea of how Picasso painted, how he created. They are films that respond to the question that everybody has: after all, why is Picasso so important? We see that the man was creatively impressive,” said Ricardo Ohtake.
The exhibit Picasso: Mão Erudita, Olho Selvagem is on display in Rio until November 20th. Visitation is from Tuesday to Sunday from 10AM to 9PM, but as long as the banks remain on strike, Caixa Cultural is open only until 6PM on weekdays. On weekends, the exhibition can be seen from 10AM.
Admission is free and the Caixa Cultural Rio is at Avenida Almirante Barroso, 25, in Centro Rio.
What: Picasso: Mão Erudita, Olho Selvagem (Classical Hand, Wild Eye) Exhibition
When: September 13th – November 20th, Tuesday to Sunday from 10AM to 9PM
Where: Caixa Cultural Rio, Avenida Almirante Barroso, 25, Centro (Metrô: Estação Carioca)
Entrance: FREE