Picasso and Portraiture

This first comprehensive survey of the portrait work of Pablo Picasso featured more than 130 paintings and 100 drawings and prints. The exhibition was organized by William Rubin, Director Emeritus, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, in collaboration with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris.

Picasso's intimate portrayals of his family, lovers, and friends redefined the meaning of representation to an extent unequaled by any other painter in the twentieth century. The artist painted his sitters repeatedly and in widely divergent styles, and the contrasting views reflected in these multiple portraits were underscored in the exhibition by the grouping of works according to subject. Many of the works were on view for the first time in America. Photographs, often by such major artists as Man Ray, and brief biographical notes on the sitters accompanied the portraits.

Picasso and Portraiture
Representation and Transformation
Kurator: William Rubin

Pablo Picasso