Picasso and Paper

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/picasso-and-paper

BY Susana Valcarcel

If you do not know that one of the most important artists of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) invented a universe of art involving paper, do not miss this ground-breaking exhibition focuses on the myriad ways in which the artist worked both on and with paper, and offers new insights into his creative spirit and working methods over 300 works that encompassing Picasso’s entire 80-year career. He drew incessantly, using many different media, including watercolour, pastel and gouache, on a broad range of papers. He assembled collages of cut-and-pasted papers; created sculptures from pieces of torn and burnt paper; produced both documentary photographs and manipulated photographs on paper, and spent decades investigating an array of printmaking techniques on paper supports.

The exhibition is organised within a broad chronological framework exploring all stages of Picasso’s career working with paper. Throughout the exhibition, a sequence of unfolding themes contextualizes the paper works, which are displayed alongside a select number of closely related paintings and sculptures.A focused section within the exhibition examines the materials and techniques used by Picasso over the course of his career. This includes an early woodcut printed by hand using a salad bowl as the block, photographic collaborations with Dora Maar and later with Andre Villers, as well as experimental graphic works and illustrated books. A display ranging from newspaper and envelopes to antique laid papers with distinctive watermarks will demonstrate the different papers Picasso used, while the astonishing array of ephemera he kept- personal letters and cards decorated with drawings are also represented.

Also you can see the film Le Mystere Picasso of 1956, a remarkable documentary recording Picasso drawing with felt-tip pens on blank newsprint.The closing sections focuses on Picasso’s last decade which saw the final flourishing of his work, particularly as a print-maker.
Do not lose the adventure of being a live witness of the contribution to the history of modern art what does he do beyond the conventional boundaries of the any imagination.