MALAGA.- Starting today through March 2024 the Museo Picasso Málaga is presenting the exhibition The Echo of Picasso. Pablo Picasso made use of an enormous range of styles while his exceptional influence on 20th-century art has lasted into the 21st century. In addition to Cubism, his principal contribution to modern art was the freedom that characterises every aspect of his painting, sculpture and graphic work. There is wide-ranging consensus regarding Picasso’s profound impact on the art world, allowing it to be said that no previous artist attracted followers and admirers on a comparable mass scale, in addition to critics.

Curated by Eric Troncy, the exhibition focuses on this effect of Picasso’s artistic practices on today’s world and above all on the current globalised art scene, bringing together work by more than 50 artists in dialogue with Picasso. As Troncy explains, the exhibition features works that reveal echoes of Picasso’s art, resonances which came about either in “real time”, during the artist’s lifetime, or in the present day. Rather than attempting to present an exhaustive catalogue, which would probably encompass most artists of the last 100 years, this exhibition project proposes a dream-like journey through the echoes of Pablo Picasso’s remarkable experiments experienced through different periods, styles and generations in the work of Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Louise Bourgeois and Jeff Koons, among many others. In this sense The Echo of Picasso, which includes a selection of influential works by the artist himself, functions like an echo in an enclosed space, exploring the visual experience of these resonances through exceptional loans of works by artists from the 1920s to the present.

Eric Troncy is a French art critic and exhibition curator. He has organised more than 100 monographic exhibitions at both the art centre Le Consortium in Dijon, of which he is co-director, and at many other leading art institutions.

PICASSO CELEBRATION 1973-2023

The 8th of April 2023 has marked the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. As such, this year will be a celebration of his life and artistic legacy in France, Spain and around the world. The French and Spanish governments have decided to mark this international event by means of a binational committee comprising cultural and diplomatic bodies from the two countries. The year 2023 will see official celebrations in France and Spain and will culminate with the opening of the Picasso Study Centre in Paris.

“Picasso Celebration 1973-2023” centres on approximately fifty exhibitions and events organised by leading cultural institutions in Europe and America which will together offer an art-historical analysis of Picasso’s work. Accompanied by official celebrations in France and Spain, this commemorative programme will allow for a reassessment of research and interpretation of the artist’s work, particularly during the major international colloquium scheduled for the autumn of 2023.

The Musée national Picasso-Paris and the Spanish National Committee for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso are delighted to be supporting this exceptional programme, which is benefiting from Telefónica as collaborating company for the Spanish programme. Telefónica, a telecommunications company and global leader in the supply of technological, digital and communication services, is participating in all the events celebrating the work of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso on the anniversary of his death. Through this initiative Telefónica is aiming to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge of the work of this great Malaga-born artist - widely regarded as one of the most prolific painters of all time - by making his art more accessible to all sectors of society. The Fundación “la Caixa” sponsors this exhibition.

Our thanks also go to Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the artist’s grandson and president of the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, Madrid (FABA), a member of the Franco-Spanish committee responsible for organising this commemorative event and patron and president of the Executive Board of the Museo Picasso Málaga.

 The Echo of Picasso at the Museo Picasso Málaga features works by around 50 artists including Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Louise Bourgeois and Jeff Koons, sometimes shown in direct dialogue with Picasso works, most of the time as an echo of the artist work.

 The exhibition focuses on the influence of Picasso’s artistic practices on today’s world and on the current globalised art scene. Divided into two sections, the first includes work by Picasso alongside that of artists who acknowledged his influence on their own practice, such as Francis Bacon, Martin Kippenberger and Maria Lassnig. The second section centres on contemporary creators such as Claire Tabouret and Rashid Johnson.

 Curated by Eric Troncy, The Echo of Picasso is part of the international programme Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 and is organised in collaboration with the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso and with the support of the Musée national Picasso-Paris and the Spanish National Committee for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pablo Picasso, which benefits from Telefónica as the corporate sponsor of the Spanish programme.

Museo Picasso Málaga
The Echo of Picasso
October 3rd, 2023 - March 31st,2024