Musée Picasso, Paris, 2015

The Musée Picasso is housed in the building of the old Hotel Salé, a 17th century residence which had many owners but has always been vacant. In 1968 it was declared Historic Monument and it opened it doors as a museum in 1985. Let's see other highlights of this amazing collection...

A few months before France and Great Britain declared war to Germany, Picasso begins a new series of women with hats, as a new version of his sitting women. The inspiration for these works might come from Dora Maar, his partner at the time, who had a taste for extravagant hats. In spite of its enormous proportions, the painting has its own equilibrium. The straps begin in the hat and go all the way to the bottom, as an exfoliation. The displacement of the eyes and mouth creates a metamorphosis that gives character to the painting.

Buste de femme au chapeau rayé, by Pablo Picasso (June 1939)

Technique: oil on canvas 

Musée Picasso, Paris

By mid 1937, Picasso paints the Guernica, a mural painting filled with symbols which tried to bring forth the horrors of war and its consequences. In December of that same year he paints "La Suppliante", in which the violent body-metamorphosis expresses his feelings. The painting was conceived in such a way that the public would receive the message with no need for words. The deformation makes the figure more expressive, as if about to give a heartbreaking cry.

La Suppliante, by Pablo Picasso (December 28, 1937)

Technique: gouache on panel

Musée Picasso, Paris.

Picasso recreates Manet's déjéuner and, although he changes the morphology of the characters, the tribute to the French master is obvious.

Le Dejéneuner sur l’herbe, d’apres Manet, by Pablo Picasso

Technique: oil on canvas

Musée Picasso, Paris.

The collection of the Museum was donated by Picasso's heirs, according to the artist's wishes. The first donation (50 works approximately) took place in 1973 and the second, in 1978. Since then it has grown permanently.

A special thanks to Nathalie Leleu, in charged of Mission Collections et Patrimoine, Musée National Picasso - París.