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Friday, May 6, 2011

"Picasso and Marie-Thérèse: L’amour fou" at Gagosian Gallery



Following an ongoing exploration of Picasso’s principal themes, Gagosian Gallery brings to the public an exhibition curated by distinguished Picasso biographer John Richardson and Marie-Thérèse’s granddaughter, art historian Diana Widmaier Picasso, who is currently preparing a catalogue raisonné of Picasso’s sculptures.

Showing more than eighty works from 1927 to 1940, some previously unseen in the United States, the "Picasso and Marie-Thérèse: L’amour fou" exhibition brings together the paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints inspired by one of Picasso’s most ideal models and enduring passions.

A fully illustrated catalogue with a new biographical essay by John Richardson, together with Diana Widmaier Picasso’s descriptive essay exploring Picasso’s portraiture and containing dozens of never before published photographs of Marie-Thérèse from the family archives, accompany the exhibition.
Elizabeth Cowling, Professor Emeritus of History of Art at Edinburgh University and co-curator of the historic exhibition “Matisse Picasso” (2002-03), has contributed an essay that examines the dissemination of images of Picasso’s sculptures through the art journals of the period.

The exhibition is open until June 25, 2011 and is presented under the direction of Valentina Castellani and installed in a dynamic transformation of the 21st Street gallery by architect Annabelle Selldorf.

Marie-Thérèse Walter (July 13, 1909 – October 20, 1977) was the French mistress and model of Pablo Picasso from 1927 to about 1935, and the mother of his daughter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso.
She is protagonist in the painting "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" (Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur), which as set world record for a work of art sold at auction (without inflation adjustments and exchange rate fluctuations).

You can read an interview that Diana Widmaier Picasso gave to The Daily Beast about the exhibition and the famous relatives she never knew.

Photography by Rob Mckeever

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