Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907

A new world opened up for the nineteen-year-old Pablo Picasso when he arrived in Paris in 1900. In this city, the cultural centre of the avant-garde, he first saw the work of artists such as Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec and Steinlen with his own eyes. In developing his own style the young Spaniard eagerly absorbed the discoveries and ideas of both his contemporaries and predecessors.| Pablo Picasso, Self-Portrait with Palette, 1906, Philadelphia Museum of Art, A. E. Gallatin Collection, 1950. C/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2010

With pioneering works such as Melancholy woman (1901, Detroit Institute of Arts) from his melancholy Blue Period and the famous Self-portrait with a palette (1906, Philadelphia Museum of Art) from his Pink Period, he paved the way for Cubism, which would forever change the course of twentieth-century painting. His atelier was a meeting place for painters, sculptors, writers, collectors and art-dealers, all attracted by the dynamic personality and revolutionary art of the young Picasso.

The exhibition in the Van Gogh Museum traces Picasso’s artistic development from his arrival in Paris until 1907, when he had grown into a leading figure of the French avant-garde.

Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907 was put together by guest curator Marilyn McCully, working together with the Van Gogh Museum and the Museu Picasso in Barcelona.

Pablo Picasso in Paris, 1900-1907
Kurator: Marilyn McCully