Picasso and Paper


Overwhelming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Picasso’s work on paper.

I say overwhelming as it covered Picasso’s whole career and hence also became a show on the developments and changes in his style in general. Although I loved the show I felt it was too much to cover in one sitting. As ever with Picasso’s art, it lost me around about Guernica.

I loved the early rooms and am always stunned at what a fantastic draftsman he was, I loved this self portrait sketch. I liked the way the show included a few paintings to illustrate the trajectory of his work and in the first room it was lovely to see La Vie and various studies for it.

There was a room devoted to Les Demoiselles d’Avignon which was a such a visual shock as you entered it that you realised what a revolutionary picture it was in its time. Although the work itself had not travelled, there was a good full-sized reproduction and lots of wonderful studies for it so you got a really good idea of the creative process.

Another nice touch was to include the studies for Picasso’s ballet designs for Ballet Russe along with a video of a performance of it and a recreation of one of the costumes. As a Bloomsbury fan I also must mention the drawing of Clive Bell in Picasso’s studio in that room

I realise my notes peter out around there, about halfway round the show. Later highlights I did note were the statue of a man with a sheep and the studies for it and the room looking at his responses to Manet and Delacroix.

Just as I was starting to wonder how so much of this work had survived as some seemed very ephemeral when I found a display showing how he kept all his papers hanging from clips from the studio ceiling.

Closes on 13 April 2020

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