Picasso by Picasso: His First Museum Exhibition 1932

by Tobia Bezzola, Simonetta Fraquelli (Contributor), Christian Geelhaar (Contributor)

Recreating Picasso's first museum retrospective curated by the artist himself, this book provides a unique historical perspective on a towering figure in modern art. Pablo Picasso was a famous artist-and infamous celebrity- by the time he launched his first museum exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zurich in 1932. The history of that retrospective, its influence on Picasso's reception and reputation, and the impact it had on Picasso's contemporaries and associates are all explored in this book, which features installation photographs from the original exhibition and will for the first time give full catalogue details of the 225 paintings that were included. Picasso curated the original retrospective, selecting works from the first three decades of his career. The works featured in the book include paintings, sculpture and prints from the artist's Blue and Rose periods, his foray into Cubism, his neo-classical paintings of the 1920s and his sensual images inspired by his young lover Marie-Therese Walter in the early 1930s.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Loved this book. It is an accompaniment to an exhibit held earlier this year at the Kunsthaus Zurich - recreating, at best, the 1932 retrospective exhibit of Picasso's works held at the same museum. - his first ever museum exhibition. Four essays are included - as well as a catalogue of the works that were presently available to be included in as a close a recreation as possible of the original exhibit. The first three essays explore the story of the creation of the exhibit. The final essay (composed by one of my favorite Picasso scholars, Michael Fitzgerald) discusses Picasso's evolution from 1932 until the end of that decade, pointedly discussing his artistic path from personal to political with regard to his masterpiece Guernica. Although, I think the last essay clearly gets off of the topic that the book is intended to cover, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Phenomenal book. I wish there were more exhibits and such publications like this one. What a fascinating avenue to explore in the history of art.