1980s Pablo Picasso Exhibit Poster, "Portrait of Dora Maar", Walker Arts Center/The Whitney Museum

Description

An original exhibit poster from the Walker Art Center portion of a landmark exhibition organized by the Whitney Museum of … more An original exhibit poster from the Walker Art Center portion of a landmark exhibition organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, will be presented June 16–September 9 at the Walker Art Center, the first U.S. venue to host masterworks from Pablo Picasso’s private collection in 1980. Poster produced in France by SPADEM. the poster is framed in yellow metal and not covered in glass.

Picasso and American Art examines the fundamental role that Picasso played in the development of American art over the past century by juxtaposing his work with that of groundbreaking American artists who were inspired or influenced by his example. The exhibition features nearly 30 works by Picasso as well as a wide-ranging display of works by nine American artists: Max Weber, Stuart Davis, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, David Smith, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jasper Johns. Each will be represented by approximately 10 artworks spanning their careers.

In addition, works by Marsden Hartley, Man Ray, Louise Bourgeois, Jan Matulka, Robert Motherwell, Andy Warhol, and Claes Oldenburg, among others, will be on view. The selection of American artists was determined in part by the decision to focus only on artists who addressed Picasso’s art before his death in 1973.

Picasso and American Art is curated by Michael FitzGerald, Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Trinity College, Connecticut, in association with Dana Miller, Associate Curator at the Whitney. The exhibition’s opening-weekend celebration features a Walker After Hours preview party on Friday, June 15, and an opening-day lecture by FitzGerald on Saturday, June 16. (A complete listing of related programs follows.)

Although Picasso never set foot in America, many of this country’s most important artists saw him as the central figure of modern art and defined their own achievements through their assimilation or refutation of his example. “The intense involvement of American artists with Picasso’s work was at the center of a fundamental transformation in American art during the 20th century,” said FitzGerald. Picasso and American Art places artworks by Picasso near related ones by Americans in order to allow visitors to see how artists here absorbed, critiqued, or occasionally rejected Picasso’s example as they created their own significant contributions to modern art. less