International Symposium : « Picasso. Sculptures, » March 23rd and 24th, 2016
Under the scientific direction of Virginie Perdrisot, curator of sculptures and curator of the
“Picasso. Sculptures” exhibition, and Cécile Godefroy, art historian and associate curator of the exhibition.
The symposium will take place on March 23rd and 24th, 2016, at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Centre Pompidou, in partnership with the Musée national Picasso-Paris.
Call for Submissions
From March 8th to August 28th, 2016, the Musée national Picasso-Paris is organizing an exhibition entitled “Picasso. Sculptures”. After the large retrospective « Picasso Sculpture » presented during Fall 2015 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, in collaboration with the Musée national Picasso-Paris, the exhibition “Picasso. Sculptures”
will occupy the Hôtel Salé’s ground and first floors, providing the sculptures display with the museum’s largest and most beautiful spaces. The Parisian project’s intention is to reveal to the public a little-studied aspect of Picasso’s sculptural work: its multiform dimension. This will be shown through series and variations, casts, reproductions, and enlargements, based on a selection of original sculptures.
The exhibition attempts to reunite exceptional collections such as the Verres d’absinthe series (1914), multiple bronze casts which Picasso’s gesture made unique; or a variation of painted metal sculptures (1960). A fruitful dialogue will be established between the Picasso’s sculptures of the MoMA, a favoured partner, and the sculptures of the Musée Picasso, through famous examples like the Tête de Fernande (Vollard editions, 1909), Crâne de chèvre, bouteille et bougie (an original plaster and its two painted bronze variations, 1951-1953), La Guenon et son petit (a display of a composite plaster and its bronze cast by Valsuani, 1951). The sculptures at the Musée national Picasso-Paris will be revisited with a new perspective and will be presented systematically with their "double" or
"variant(s)", like the Vollard editions (Fou and Têtes de Fernande), the bronze casts made after Boisgeloup plasters (Têtes de Marie-Thérèse) or the different proposals for the Monument to Guillaume Apollinaire.
There will be a catalogue to accompany the exhibition, inviting viewers to follow the great circulation of sculptures throughout the course of Picasso's life according to their reproduction, exhibition or dissemination through photographs, art journals and the media.
These topics will be questioned into the international symposium dedicated to the Sculpture of Picasso, according to three main lines:
1/ The Sculpture of Picasso: Copies and Series.
Here are discussed the material reproduction of the sculptures by Picasso; the artistic process of the sculptor; his collaborative work with artists, casters and craftsmen; the choice of materials; the series and variations game; the issue of enlarged copies and the public dimension of monumental sculptures.
2/ Picasso and Sculpture: Sources and Influences
The aim of this topic is to contextualize the production of Picasso within the history of sculpture, from Antiquity to present day, questioning, for instance, the relationship of Picasso’s works with archaic or primitive art, as well as the influence of his contemporaries, to the influence that the artist exerted himself on sculpture during the 20th century until nowadays.
3/ Reception of the Picasso’s Sculptures
The circulation and diffusion of the sculptures of Picasso can be questioned through exhibitions in France and around the world; dynamism of the art market; art reviews, specialized literature, photographs, and media (paper, audio and video). A particular attention will be given to the main exhibitions that displayed the sculptures of Picasso in the art world (“Hommage à Picasso,” Grand Palais and Petit Palais, Paris, 1966-1967; “Picasso Sculpteur,”
Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2000, etc.). The posterity of Picasso’s sculptures will be studied through papers and dialogues with contemporary artists.
These topics of interest are not exclusive.
To submit a paper, please send an abstract of 300 words maximum, with a short biography and a list of publications before October 15th, 2015.
All materials must be addressed to:
virginie.perdrisot@museepicassoparis.fr cecile.godefroy@museepicassoparis.fr
Etablissement Public du Musée national Picasso-Paris 18, rue de la Perle
75003 Paris
