New exhibition in Pasadena peeks into Picassoâs âStates of Mindâ
What might it have been like to be a fly on the wall in Pablo Picassoâs studio? A new show at the Norton Simon Museum, âStates of Mind: Picasso Lithographs 1945-1960,â aims to provide an idea.
The exhibit centers on the artistâs lithography, a flexible form of printmaking that is prepared so that the ink sticks only to the design intended for printing. Eighty-six prints will be on view until Feb. 13, many of them for the first time in 40 years. The museumâs namesake acquired them in 1977 from the collection of Fernand Mourlot, the man who ran the print shop in Paris where Picasso made them.
âWeâre fortunate to have every state of these lithographs, so we can watch a composition develop,â associate curator Emily Beeny said, referring to prints that show the sequential evolution of works as they were revised. âItâs sort of like a flip book. Weâre looking over his shoulder as he reworks a composition.â
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The lithographs are discrete pieces of art, not preliminary studies for paintings. Although Beeny said Picassoâs prolific postwar work in multistate lithography contributed directly to the emergence of the artistâs serial paintings, including his 1955 grouping of 15 paintings titled âLes Femmes dâAlgerâ (âWomen of Algiersâ).
Picasso felt it was important to show all the pictures that may be underneath the picture, said Beeny, adding that while Picasso was experimenting with lithography, Henri Matisse was addressing a similar problem in another way by bringing a photographer into his studio to take a picture of his canvas each day.
In Picassoâs case, he worked up a design and printed up a small batch of impressions.
âAnd he does it again and again and again,â Beeny said.
âStates of Mind: Picasso Lithographs 1945-1960â
Where: Norton Simon Museum, 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
When: Noon to 5 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays; ends Feb. 13.
Admission: $12
Information: (626) 449-6840, www.nortonsimon.org
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