The Picasso Museum - Paris
It's not easy to get to. In fact, it is quite like attempting to navigate one's way through a maze. But seeking out and finding the Musee national Picasso is well worth the effort. It is located at Hotel Sale 5, on the rue de Thorigny in Paris' 3rd district. On foot it is about 15 minutes from Centre Pompidou, and if one is visiting this city it makes alot of sense to visit both sites during the same day. The Pompidou and the Picasso museum make for a fruitful and colorful day.
Although I was enthralled with the interactive FABRICA exhibit at the Pomipidou, on the day I visited these two museums there was no doubt which locale agitated and excited my senses most. This was surely In part due to the fact that the third floor of the Pompidou was closed for renovations, but even if I had been allowed to see the full selection of works at the Modern I doubt the experience in its' entirety would compare to spending a modest 90 minutes exploring Paris' spectacular Picasso Museum. I confess to being a Picasso fanatic and certainly would love his work wherever it was displayed, however, it had been about 15 years since I last visited, and I am still of the belief that there is not a more magnificent permanent collection of his works on display anywhere; this place is a veritable cornucopia of Picasso, representing the various stages and permutations (in addition to Cubist and classicist paintings, both styles of Picasso's mature work "figuration" and "dissociation" are fully represented) of almost 80 years of vibratory, incantatory, celebratory brilliance.
While the wonderful and unheralded Picasso Museum in Barcelona highlights Picasso's early work (which I for some time have been singing the praises of, and emphasized to my late friend, art historian Wendy Sheard -- she in turn later pointed out a review expressing similar sentiments about Picasso's early work and said dryly: "See, you are not the only one who noticed.") and clearly displays the fact that young Pablo had achieved technical mastery by the time he was 14 years old, the museum in Paris more thoroughly traverses his entire career and gives us tastes of Picasso's excursions into the realm of sculpture , which were by no means insignificant.
Most noteworthy of the paintings are Reclining Nude (1932) , with its' sumptuous curves, broad brush strokes and earthy sensuality. Figures at the Seashore is erotic in a more elemental way, highlighting the sexual puns that Picasso has become known for. The colorful, whimsical pastel toned Crucifixion from 1930 seems a precursor to the best Art Brut paintings. The bright lime greens used in Maya with a Doll remind us that Picasso understood the emotional power of the flat fields of almost florescent color that characterized many works of Van Gogh, especially the portraits. This painting enchanted me the first time I came here and did so again upon my latest viewing. Bullfight: Death of the Toreador (1933) is simultaneously brutal (in content) and beautiful (in form). The majesty of the Bullfight here has turned into a nightmare, occuring in the brightness of the midday sun -- a grotesque spectacle of writhing forms in which the shocking red cape of the toreador calls forth the blood spilled in the ring that day. The inverted colors of the Spanish Flag contribute to the atomosphere of confusion and distorted perception. This is an incredible painting and is one of many of Picasso's lesser known works which is worthy of admiration.
The previously mentioned sculptures housed here, such as Nanny Goat (1950), are evidence of Picasso's versatility and seemingly endless genius in exploring and discovering the essence of human and animal forms. There is an archetypal presence to this work and most of the other sculptures here. Nanny Goat was created out of such diverse materials as a large round basket (for the belly), metal strips (for the lean flanks), carved vinewood (horns), cardboard (ears), twisted wire (tail) and two ceramic vessels (for the udder). According to Ingo Walther, Picasso worked backwards in this project, the genesis of form arising not from a seen object which is then subjected to a process of metamorphosis, but rather by first coming up with the image of a goat, then seeking out a live model that matched his mental picture. The result is a delightful and textured masterpiece.
There are many such treasures to behold at Musee Picasso. More than a glimpse, we are offered a large cross section of art that truly does justice to this temperamental and brilliant poet of the canvas. What was his joie de vivre is still palpable in these works, and I can't think of a more fitting place to experience the magic of Picasso.
