New exhibition program of the Museu Picasso Barcelona on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Picasso's death

On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso, last February 13 at 11:30 a.m. the new exhibition program of the Picasso Museum in Barcelona was presented, in which the governments of Spain and France have agreed to work together with a program of activities of international scope, which wants to reflect the validity of the artist's work in numerous renowned cultural institutions, both in Europe and the United States.

The presentation ceremony was carried out by its director Emmanuel Guigon who emphasized that for this year two important temporary exhibitions will be held, the first of the dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, which opened on December 2, 2022 and which can be visited until March 19, 2023. In the fall, specifically from October 19 to February 25, 2024, a double simultaneous exhibition will be presented that deals with the relationship that Picasso had with Joan Miró, the thread the driver of which starts from two essential concepts which are: the friendship of the two artists and their recognition in Barcelona, which materialized with the legacy left by the two artists in the form of monographic museums that currently bear their respective names .

The Picasso 1973-2023 Celebration is organized around more than forty exhibition projects and two academic conferences, the promoters of which have been Acció Cultural Española (AC/E) under the National Commission for the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Death of Pablo Picasso and the Musée National Picasso-Paris from France.

Within the exhibition program entitled Contemporary Dialogues, mention should also be made of the temporary exhibitions of Carmen Calvo (from May 4 to September 3, 2023), Hélène Delprat (summer of 2023) and the Interventions section at the Col .Picasso lesson by Carlos Pazos, Frederic Amat, Orlan and Pilar Aymerich.

On the other hand, another important event this year and on the occasion of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Museu Picasso in Barcelona will be on March 9, which will be the start of the presentation of a book that speaks de l'arribada de Pablo Picasso i de la seva família el 1895 a Barcelona i que es titula Picasso Barcelona, una cartografia, de Claustre Rafart i Plana i que està publicat en català, castellà i anglès amb un tiratge de 3.000 unitats. The publication of the book will include Picasso itineraries for the city as well as a series of activities such as puppet shows, poetry recitals, dramatized readings, the restoration and recovery of the Comparsa Visca Picasso, readings in Barcelona libraries, the installation creation of an indicator totem with information relating to Picasso while linking the artist with the place in the city, etc.

For its part, the Picasso Museum has designed the future deployment of the Picasso Network formed by itself, the Gósol City Council, the Caldes d'Estrac Foundation, the Thermalia museum in Caldes de Montbui and the Picasso Center in Horta de Sant Joan with the aim of strengthening ties between the Picasso centers and other institutions in the country. The Bernard Plossu exhibition should be highlighted. The Picasso landscapes, which brings together several photographs taken in Horta de Sant Joan, Gósol, Cadaqués, Barcelona, among others...

The Maricel Museum (Sitges) will participate in an exhibition of the territory entitled Rusiñol seen by Picasso, as will also establish collaboration with a loan of a set of works and documents with the Diocesan and County Museum of Solsona.

Photo Spain 2023

From April 28, 2023 until July 30, 2023, the Picasso Museum will present its latest projects around photography at the new edition of Photo España 2023, which will be held at the Fernán Gómez Center, Plaza Colón (Madrid ). This exhibition will focus on the archival part of the Museum, the collection of Lucien Clergue, that of Brigitte Baer, with special emphasis on his archives, and the collection that the American photographer David Douglas Duncan gave to the Museum in 2013.

Emmanuel Guigon wanted to emphasize the importance of taking great care of the issue of archives and wanted to emphasize "the stage of expansion" that the museum is experiencing. From September to December, a symposium and exhibition will be organized by the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid as part of the Picasso Celebration and with the scientific collaboration of the Picasso Museum of Barcelona and the Picasso Doctorate. As for further collaborations with other museums, the exhibition Pablo Picasso, Paul Eluard, a sublime friendship with the Museum of Art History of Saint Denis in Paris should be mentioned, as well as the Picasso project. The Blue Period and beyond, which will tour the Hiroshima Museum.

Other notable collaborations are with the Museum of Fine Arts in A Coruña, the Musée Magnelli, the Picasso Museum in Malaga, the Reina Sofia Art Center Museum, etc. With regard to scientific and research activities, mention should be made of the International Symposium on archival practice in art in collaboration with the MNAC, the Picasso Doctorate (course 2022-23) in collaboration with the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona and the Picardie-Jules Verne University of Amiens. Some of the Barcelona institutions such as the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona will dedicate an exhibition to the ceramics that inspired Picasso, and the Filmoteca de Catalunya has digitized a total of five films that will make reference to the artist's work. While the College of Architects of Barcelona will focus on an exhibition on the five murals that Picasso created for his building in Plaça Nova.

The presentation also discussed the new website of the Picasso Museum which, according to Guigon, "will have more content, will be easier to access and will emphasize the importance of virtual exhibitions". Finally, in the section on socio-educational activities, it is worth highlighting a new way of bringing Picasso to schools - La maleta de Picasso project for the 2022 to 2024 school year - and the drawing festival, Barcelona Dibuixa, which every year grows in formats and participants.