Picasso Ingres: Face to Face

Smart exhibition at the National Gallery pairing portraits by Ingres and Picasso.

Picasso’s “Woman with a Book” from 1932 was shown with Ingres’ “Madame Moitessier” from 1856 which it was inspired by. Picasso saw the Ingres picture in Paris at an exhibition in 1921. They are shown together for the first time. The Picasso is on loan from the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena while the Ingres comes from the National Gallery’s own collection.

They look lovely against a dark grey background and I liked that they were just hung side by side with all the commentary on the wall behind so you could just sit and compare the composition and techniques. They looked great together. 

Looking at dates again I realise the pictures are only painted 76 years apart and yet they are from completely different worlds. Would a picture from 1946 look so astonishingly different to one from now? 

Closes 9 October 2022

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