Picasso: printmaker. La nuova mostra al British Museum

07 Novembre 2024 , Scritto da Vincenzo Sebastiano

Still life under the lamp, 1962 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This colour linocut is considered to be one of Picasso’s greatest achievements in linocut printmaking. Picasso continued to experiment with his printmaking, using the ‘reduction linocut’ technique, which enabled him to print an image from one block, cutting away at it in sections to print each colour. The Museum holds a collection of linocuts that demonstrate this technique, most notably the proofs for each stage of Still Life Under the Lamp. It is one of a group of linocuts acquired by the BM in 2013.

Al British Museum un racconto inusuale della carriera di Pablo Picasso, quello delle sue stampe, realizzate nel corso della sua lunga vita. Fino al 25 Marzo 2025.

Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) è stato uno dei talenti più innovativi, geniali e influenti che abbiano mai esplorato ed utilizzato la tecnica della stampa.

Oltre ai suoi numerosi dipinti, sculture e disegni, l'artista di Malaga ha realizzato oltre 2.400 stampe durante la sua carriera. Dai suoi primi anni come artista a Parigi fino alla sua vecchiaia nel sud della Francia, l'incisione ha offerto a Picasso l'opportunità di sviluppare idee, raccontare storie e intraprendere nuove avventure sempre più creative e complesse.

La mostra al British Museum offre notevoli spunti per approfondire alcuni aspetti della vita di Picasso attraverso la sua arte, compresi i complessi rapporti con le donne e le collaborazioni con tipografi, editori e altri artisti. Coprendo tutta la sua carriera, segue il suo impegno con diverse tecniche di incisione e i suoi mutevoli approcci alla creazione artistica.

Il British Museum detiene di gran lunga la collezione di stampe di Picasso più grande e rappresentativa di tutto il Regno Unito.

La mostra comprende oltre 100 stampe realizzate dall'artista in diversi periodi della sua straordinaria carriera; sono di differenti dimensioni ed includono pezzi già noti, ma anche stampe minori, meno famose, che non erano mai state esposte in Gran Bretagna precedentemente

Le opere sono state realizzate all'inizio del 1900, prima e dopo il dipinto rivoluzionario di Picasso Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), che aprì la strada al Cubismo. Sono esposte anche un gruppo di stampe della Suite Vollard, una serie di 100 acqueforti realizzate negli anni ‘30 che mostrano l'influenza dell'arte classica sull'opera di Picasso ma riflettono la sua tumultuosa vita personale.

Picasso, his work and his audience, 16-22
March 1968
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

Leaping bulls, 1950
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

Pike II, 1959
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

Tree in the storm, with flight towards a
church, 15 August 1968
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

Head of a woman no. 7. Portrait of Dora
Maar, 1939
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

Monkey, 1936
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

The frugal meal, 1904
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

The little artist, 1954
© Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024.

Faun uncovering a woman, 12 June 1936 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This print from the Vollard Suite is a sugar aquatint, scraper and engraving. The British Museum acquired all 100 etchings from the Vollard Suite (1930-37) in 2011 as a gift from Hamish Parker and held an exhibition in 2012. The current exhibition will show a selection of his prints from the suite in the context of his entire printmaking career, showing the influence of classical art in the 1920s and 30s and the development of his skills as a printmaker at this time.

Picasso, his work and his audience, 16-22 March 1968 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This is the first etching in the 347 Suite. In 1968, aged 86, Picasso produced 347 etchings, drypoints and aquatints in under seven months. Together they became known as the 347 Suite. Five prints from the suite, including this one, were shown in Gallery 90 in the 2018-19 exhibition New Acquisitions: Gozzoli to Kara Walker, but no others have been shown.

Leaping bulls, 1950 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This drawing in watercolour and coloured inks is from the Institute of Contemporary Arts Visitor’s Book. It is a drawing Picasso made when he visited Britain in 1950 to attend the third International Peace Congress in Sheffield, organised by the Communist Party, which he joined in 1944. It was donated to the British Museum in 1975 by artist and writer Roland Penrose (1900‒1984).

Pike II, 1959 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. Picasso focused on making linocuts from the mid-1950s until around 1962. This coloured example shows the artist’s continuing interest in the theme of the bullfight.

Tree in the storm, with flight towards a church, 15 August 1968 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. Sugar aquatint and drypoint on greased plate. This print from the 347 Suite demonstrates his playfulness with printmaking at this time, the storytelling element of the suite, and his experiments with unusual techniques, such as greasing the plate. Picasso: printmaker is the first time it will be displayed

Figure, 1948 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This lithograph is a portrait of the artist Françoise Gilot (1921‒2023). She was Picasso’s partner with whom he moved to the South of France in 1948 following the breakup of his relationship with Dora Maar. It is one of a group of post-war lithographs and aquatints that the British Museum acquired in 2016.

Head of a woman no. 7. Portrait of Dora Maar, 1939 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. The exhibition will explore Picasso’s relationships through his art. This drypoint depicts the Surrealist photographer Dora Maar (1907‒1997), with whom he had a relationship between 1936 and 1945. She was also the inspiration for his Weeping Woman paintings in 1937. She disliked his portraits of her, describing them all as ‘lies’.

Monkey, 1936 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. Illustration for Original etchings for texts by Buffon (Paris: Martin Fabiani, 1942), sugar aquatint and drypoint. Picasso loved animals and kept many pets throughout his life. The exhibition includes images of a monkey, frogs, a lizard, owls, a goat, a pigeon and a hen. He kept a pet monkey for a short time as a young artist in Paris and enjoyed watching the monkeys in the zoo.

The frugal meal, 1904 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This etching was the first Picasso made in Paris and is considered his first as a professional artist. It is one of his most powerful works in any medium from what is known as his Blue Period (1901-04). The period often depicted people on the margins of society, including travelling poor people and those suffering great poverty.

The little artist, 1954 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. This colour crayon transfer lithograph depicts Françoise Gilot and their two children, Claude and Paloma, on a visit to Picasso after she left him in 1953.

I curatori hanno esplorato e raccontato l'interesse e l'attenzione di Picasso per la litografia e, successivamente, la svolta con la stampa su linoleum, subito dopo la seconda guerra mondiale; ciò coincise con il suo trasferimento nel sud della Francia, segnando un cambiamento di stile di vita evidente nel suo lavoro. Tra i temi più rappresentati ritroviamo il circo, la corrida, l'amore, il sesso e le interazioni su carta di Picasso con artisti del passato.

La mostra si conclude con una selezione di opere provenienti dalla Suite 347, dal nome del numero di stampe della serie, che Picasso completò all'età di 86 anni nel 1968, in uno straordinario slancio di tarda creatività.