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Picasso art show opens in Abu Dhabi tomorrow

ABU DHABI —A major exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s works will open at Gallery One (Emirates Palace) in Abu Dhabi tomorrow. The three-month exhibition, which will continue until September 4, is being held under the patronage of General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, who will inaugurate the show.

Picasso Abu Dhabi is a collection of masterpieces from the Picasso National Museum in Paris comprising paintings, sculptures and drawings, currently on a world tour, which started earlier this month in Spain and will visit, from this autumn until 2010, nine other world destinations, including Japan, Australia, USA, Canada and Finland.

The artworks are on loan from the Parisian museum, which is undergoing refurbishment and the Spanish government paid Euros 3.5 million to display the 400 Picasso artworks in Madrid.

In Abu Dhabi, 186 works will be exhibited, which include exclusively for Abu Dhabi, 40 drawings, prints and illuminated manuscripts, reminiscent of the Arab influences on Picasso during his early years in Spain’s Malaga, La Cocina and Barcelona.

Picasso Abu Dhabi will retain the concept of the retrospective, showcasing works from all of Picasso’s distinct period.

Starting with early paintings from the artist’s Blue Period and early Cubism (1901–1909) to his latter collages, assemblages and the great pair of paintings “L’Homme a la mandoline” (Man with a mandolin) and “L’Homme a la guitar” (Man with a guitar), the Picasso’s art journey will continue with the 1919 – 1923 period, when he returned to classical tradition.