The two paintings were last exhibited in Spain in 2015, arriving in Toledo for the 50th anniversary of the Malaga painter’s death
‘Woman in a Hat Sitting in an Armchair’ and ‘Venus and Love’ are the two works by Pablo Picasso (Málaga, 1881–Mougins (France), 1973) on display at the Museo Nacional del Greco, in Toledo, until next 25 Sept. This was possible thanks to an institutional exchange between the Spanish Museum and the Kunstmuseum Basel in Switzerland, which in turn will be able to exhibit until that date three works by the Cretan painter: ‘San Juan’, ‘San Bartolomé’ and ‘San Simón’, paintings that are part of the famous “Apostolate” of El Greco.
Picasso’s works are part of the exhibition ‘Picasso visits El Greco’, which precedes the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death from Malaga. The two were last seen in Spain in 2015 in an exhibition organized by the Prado Museum.
According to the director of the Toledo Museum, Rosa Becerril, the exhibition ‘Picasso visits el Greco’ is “a unique opportunity for Picasso to enter into a direct dialogue with one of the painters he most admired and in the city where El Greco achieved artistic success ». “These are mature works by these great artists that will enable visitors to understand the influence of El Greco on 20th century art as he was a reference for all painters who wanted to shake up the foundations of cultural art “, adds the director of this museum.
Picasso, who received full artistic training from childhood, regularly visited the Prado Museum and developed a deep bond with El Greco and Velázqueza. In 1898, when he was not yet 20 years old, he even wrote in one of his notebooks: «Greco, Velázquez, inspire me». The Malaga-based painter was also influenced by El Greco’s ‘Vision of the Apocalypse’ for ‘The Ladies of Avignon’ in 1907.
As for the two paintings by Picasso already on display at the Museo Nacional del Greco, ‘Woman in a Hat Sitting in an Armchair’ is an oil on canvas made between 1941 and 1942 that refers to the classic three-quarter portrait of Spanish art. His muse was the French artist Dora Maar, with whom Picasso had a love affair for ten years.
‘Venus and Love’ is another oil on canvas that the artist painted in his final phase, in 1967, a work in which he could draw inspiration from the fast and loose line of El Greco’s last works.
Source: La Verdad
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