Pablo Picasso is on campus.
One of the renowned Spanish artist’s oil paintings, “Buste d’homme,” will be on display at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art beginning today.
“It’s a great and rare opportunity to show such an important work,” museum director Jill Hartz said.
Following a common theme in his paintings of the time, the painting, completed in October 1969, features a man sitting in an armchair, curatorial intern Ashley Gibson said.
“‘Buste d’homme’ is the most monumental of that group and serves as an excellent example of Picasso’s later works,” Gibson said.
The piece embodies styles from the impressionist and modern periods, featuring strong brush stroke texture and vivid colors to depict a man gazing placidly back at the viewer.
Gibson, who is also a University master’s student in art history, noted that many features of the man, including his elongated, bearded face, long hair and yellow hat, have led many to conclude that the painting is an autobiographical portrait.
“Picasso’s repeated archetypal male figure carries an autobiographical reference and was a vehicle through which the artist could project different aspects of his own identity,” Gibson said.
Gibson said many of Picasso’s final works like “Buste d’homme” were largely dismissed and overlooked by the art world because of his daring mixture of styles. It was only after Picasso’s death in 1973 that his later work was reevaluated and appreciated for its originality.
“It is vibrant and commanding,” Hartz said.
The painting is on loan from an anonymous private lender who has loaned artwork to the
museum before.
“Loans like this one support the museum’s mission to enhance the University’s academic
program and to further the appreciation and enjoyment of art for the general public,” Hertz said.
Picasso, considered by some to be one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, cofounded the Cubism movement with French artist Georges Braque. Picasso produced an estimated 50,000 pieces in various mediums, including painting, sculpture, and printmaking, throughout his nearly 80-year career as an artist.
The painting will be on display in the John and Ethel MacKinnon Gallery on the museum’s second floor until June.
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