18th May 2012

Approximations to the Laboratory Exchanges – III

During the month of March we held the third Laboratory Exchanges. The contents developed during these sessions, as well as the previous ones, will be included in the speech of the project “FX Archive: from Economy zero”, within the framework of which we will also present the exhibition “Economy: Picasso” this May.

As follows we will give you a summary of the most relevant contents of the third sessions of these laboratories: Read more »

14th May 2012

Talking about Picasso’s Guernica at Montjuïc

The Generalitat de Catalunya’s Memorial Democràtic initiative has organized a series of activities, exhibitions and talks to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Civil War bombing of the civilian population.

Guernica. Pablo Picasso, 1937. Oil on canvas

Although aerial bombardment had been used in previous wars, the Spanish Civil War was the first in which the civilian population was subjected to intensive and continuous attack from the air. First in Euskadi — the Basque Country — and then all over the country, the rebel General Franco’s army and its Italian and German allies systematically bombed defenceless towns and cities behind the lines. This aberrant tactic continued during World War II and culminated in the dropping of the atomic bomb, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then the bombing of the civilian population has been a common practice in almost all wars. Read more »

3rd April 2012

Approaches to the Interchanges Laboratory – II

Back in February we started the Interchanges Laboratory, which has continued this month with a block of sessions on 6, 7 and 8 March, and a third and final block on 20, 21 and 22 March.

Below is a summary of the second sessions, highlighting the most relevant inputs from these debates, talks and performative acts that offer a variety of views and interpretations of the relations between art, work, object and economy, which will be incorporated into the discourse of the project FX File: On Economy Zero, in the context of which we will also be presenting the exhibition “Economy: Picasso”.

Richard Hamilton – Just what it that made yesterday’s homes so different, so appealing? – 1992 – 26 x 25,1 cm – Metropolitan Museum, New York – © Richard Hamilton, VEGAP, Barcelona 2011

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22nd March 2012

A Collage before Collage

I first took a proper look at the Picasso drawing Man Leaning against a Wall, the starting point of the exhibition A “Collage before Collage”, when I was preparing my essay on Miró and collage. In this early work the lines drawn by the artist’s hand are complemented by a mechanical reproduction of a photographic image, which set me to thinking that it could be seen as a forerunner of the subject was dealing with in the book. However, the date of the drawing — March 1899 —was so far in advance of the discovery of collage in the spring of 1912 that I decided to put off studying it until I had finished my work on Miró and had the time to tackle it properly.

Man Leaning against a Wall

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15th March 2012

Approaches to the Interchanges Laboratory

On 21, 22 and 23 February we held the first sessions of the Interchanges Laboratory, part of Pedro G. Romero’s project Archivo F.X. : On Economy Zero, of which the upcoming exhibition “Economy: Picasso” will also form part.

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1st March 2012

Picasso at the Tate

On 15 February, the monumental exhibition “Picasso & Modern British Art” opened to the public at Tate Britain in London. The show traces all of the significant points of connection between Pablo Picasso and the British art scene, from his influence on artists such as Duncan Grant and Wyndham Lewis in the early years of the twentieth century, through the admiration he inspired in such seminal figures as Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and Francis Bacon, especially between the wars, to the second half of the century, when he was a source for inspiration to Graham Sutherland and David Hockney, among others.

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31st January 2012

Farewell to Pepe Serra: assessment of a phase

When our director Pepe Serra said goodbye to the team at the Museu Picasso he told us: ‘We have done ten years’ work in five years.’ What follows is a brief summary of some of the projects carried out during his time as director.

· Research and development of exhibitions that contribute knowledge and added value.

“Feasting on Paris. Picasso 1900-1907” (2011). Self-Portrait with Palette, Picasso, Paris, 1906 |  “Picasso Looks at Degas” (2010). Read more »

19th January 2012

The Pieces of a Jigsaw

I’ve always liked books with pictures. When I was little I spent a lot of afternoons on the sofa leafing through one of the few books with photographs that we had at home. Years later I worked as editor on a collection of history books, which were also illustrated, and I remember my boss at the time saying that the combinations of images should speak for themselves.

Provisional and final versions of a page of the second number of the Focus collection”Picasso 1936. Traces of an exhibition” Read more »

30th December 2011

The Museu Picasso’s 2011 in images

The task of choosing the most representative images of this year that is coming to an end was far from easy. Between us, we have worked on a lot of projects! Exhibitions, activities, research and restoration, education, registrar, library, publications, communications, administration, visitor services… it’s a long list. Here, then, is just a taste of what the museum has done in 2011.

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17th November 2011

Picasso in Tel Aviv

From 17 November 2011 to 20 January 2012 the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is hosting the Picasso exhibition “Tauromachy. Works from the Collection of the Museu Picasso Barcelona”. The initiative has come about as part of the cooperation agreement between the Museu Picasso and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), which chose to show Picasso for the first time in Israel, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two states.

Table of registers Read more »