Pablo Picasso

...aka Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso (gotta love Wikipedia!)

We are not huge art fans, but when the grand and varied works of Picasso hit town at the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) we had to go. SAM describes the special exhibit with the following:

The works in this exhibition come from Picasso’s personal collection—works of art the highly self-aware artist kept for himself with the intent of shaping his own artistic legacy. Drawn from the collection of the Musée National Picasso in Paris—the largest and most important repository of the artist’s work in the world—the exhibition will feature work representing every major period from the artist’s prolific output over eight decades.

So we ordered our tickets online and set out for SAM and our 11:20am entry time on Thursday morning. When we arrived at the museum it was already filling with people and there was a long line for those of us who printed our tickets at home. Soon enough we entered the exhibit.

We were offered, and accepted, audio devices with which we could listen to 20 or so descriptions of some of the highlighted pieces. These recordings provided so much information about the art, the artist, and his life. It really made me think about the meaning behind the final product. Without the audios, I would have been lost - and lost out on so much.

The collection includes paintings, drawings, sculptures and metal pieces. It was very nicely laid out, gallery by gallery, in chronological order with each gallery highlighting a specific time frame in Picasso’s life.

Mike’s favorite was The Matador, an oil on canvas, from 1970. I was captivated with Portrait of Olga in an Armchair, also an oil on canvas, completed in 1918. Olga was the first of Picasso’s two wives, although he had multiple mistresses over the years.

I could go on and on, but words do not due the art justice. Go see it!!!