Paul Smith Art Directs Pablo Picasso’s 50th Anniversary Exhibition In Paris

A major new Paris exhibition of Picasso’s masterpieces, opening this week at the Musée National Picasso, is a lively, inventive collaboration with designer Sir Paul Smith. The British designer, known for his work with color in tailoring, found the invitation by Picasso Museum’s former director, Laurent Le Bon (he’s now at the Pompidou Centre) to do whatever he wanted for the show somewhat daunting. He admits that being given a free hand “was quite frightening because there are many experts on Picasso around the world and my approach to the exhibition was on the contrary very spontaneous, not at all attached to the history of Picasso….the project is very much about visual and spontaneous associations.”

In a radical departure from traditional exhibitions of paintings hung on white walls, Paul Smith has used colorful walls, patterned wallpaper and his trademark stripes as background for Picasso’s works. The use of color around the works invites the viewer to look at them in a new way. And what a colorful and playful rehang of Picasso’s works this is; one that is certain to surprise viewers.

Picasso has been just one source of inspiration for Paul Smith; his designs have been influenced by all art forms and he says “because of my job, throughout my career, I’ve dipped into the Cubism of Braque and Picasso, I’ve dipped into the colors of Matisse and his cut-outs, into the colors of Monet. As a creative person, the world of art has always been a reference for me, but when I say ‘art’, I don’t just mean ‘painting’, I also mean the world of Jean-Luc Godard, the opera composer Bellini and the architecture of Palladio. I take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. Picasso, of course, has always been a part of that influence.”

Commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Spanish artist’s death, Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light! spans the artist’s long career, with 152 works on show, many of which have not been seen for a long while. The exhibition features masterpieces such as: Self Portrait 1901, Homme à la guitare 1911, Le Flûte de Pan 1923, Portrait of Dora Maar 1937, The Bull’s Head 1942, Jacqueline aux mains croisée 1954 and a number of preparatory works for Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

The paintings, sketches, sculptures and ceramics on show are drawn from the museum’s 5,000 works and Picasso’s personal archive estimated at nearly 200,000 items. Also in the exhibition are 37 works by the contemporary artists Guillermo Kuitca, Obi Okigbo, Mickalene Thomas and Chéri Samba who’ve been influenced by and respond to Picasso’s work.

Arranged thematically rather than chronologically, the first room features his subversive cover of the May 1951 issue of Vogue, another room shows Cubist work. The blue room shows pieces from 1901, when following the death of his friend Carlos Casagemas, Pablo Picasso used a palette entirely in shades of blue, often painting portraits of pitiful, anonymous figures such as beggars, prostitutes and drinkers. A red room has a bullfighting theme, dating back to his early childhood in Málaga.

Echoing his brand’s own signature stripes, in one of the most eye catching rooms of the show, Paul Smith uses floor to ceiling bright yellow, green and blue stripes in the room showing Picasso’s Femmes assises au fauteuil series from the 1930s that featured colorful stripes.

It’s not all dramatic colors and stripes though. A more sombre room shows some of Picasso’s work created during the second world war beside a piece by the US artist Mickalene Thomas, inspired by the civil rights demonstrations and the Black Lives Matter movement.

The museum is also presenting France’s first major exhibition by Faith Ringgold, the Black feminist American artist whose work includes references to Picasso and the Paris art scene of the early 20th century. Black is beautiful runs until July 2, 2023

Picasso Celebration: The Collection in a New Light!, 7 March – 27 August 2023. The Musée National Picasso-Paris, 5 Rue de Thorigny, 75003 Paris

Opening Hours: Daily 10.30 am-6 pm (9.30 am-6 pm during school holidays and weekends). Open every day except 1 May 2023.

Admission: Full price: 14 €; Reduced price: 11 €. To avoid queues, it is recommended that tickets are booked in advance.