Pablo Picasso. Artist and book Automatic translate

Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Moscow Region "New Jerusalem" in conjunction with the A.S. State Museum of Fine Arts Pushkin presents a large-scale exhibition of printed works of the outstanding artist of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso, created by him in the genre of livre d’artiste ("artist’s book"). The Russian audience will be presented to the work of Pablo Picasso, created in the period from 1919 to 1969. Such an extensive display of Picasso’s works in the genre of livre d’artiste is carried out in the Russian Museum for the first time.

Pablo Picasso. The artist and his model. Etching, aquatint, dry needle, 1965. Collection of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The basis of the exhibition is livre d’artiste editions from the collections of Russian collectors George Gens and Boris Fridman. The exhibition also presents the work of the original printed graphics by Picasso from the collection of the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin. Boris Fridman, who has extensive experience in organizing and conducting shows of the leading masters of the twentieth century in the genre of livre d’artiste, is invited to curate the exhibition. Boris Fridman is the creator and head of Microinform, one of the leading computer technology training centers in Russia. For over twenty years he has been collecting editions of livre d’artiste.

Pablo Picasso first turned to the livre d’artiste genre in 1905, and the last work in this genre was created by him in 1972, four months before his death. The complete catalog of the 1983 livre d’artiste by Picasso, prepared by Patrick Kremer, describes in detail 156 editions with the original printed graphics of the artist, including about 800 etchings, lithographs, woodcuts and linocuts of the master. The exposition of the exhibition is designed in such a way that from the many works of Picasso in the genre of livre d’artiste to show the most characteristic graphic works for the artist. Viewers will be able to see 13 publications representing etchings, lithographs and woodcuts of the artist. Printed works of Picasso 1950-1960-ies from the collection of the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin vividly demonstrate the stylistic unity of graphic cycles in the editions of livre d’artiste with easel graphics by the artist.

The first section of the exhibition presents the artist’s works performed before the early 1950s. These are classic images of the heroes of the ancient comedy Aristophanes “Lysistratus”, works in the style of surrealism in the publication “Age of the Sun” by Robert Godet, unusual images of flora and fauna illustrating Tristan Tzar’s poem “Human Memory”. Particularly noteworthy is a series of etchings by Picasso to The Six Fantastic Tales by Maurice Tosca, created by the artist during the French occupation during World War II. On two etchings of this series, the artist depicted a beautiful profile of Dora Maar, his close companion in this period of his life.

The next section of the exhibition is dedicated to the joint work of Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau, whose friendship lasted for many years. The publication of Cocteau’s texts of different periods about the work of Picasso, the artist accompanied a series of lithographs made in the style of Cocteau.

The same section presents the three most important works of Picasso in the editions of livre d’artiste. This is a series of irony and game etchings with aquatint for the play by Fernan Krommelink “The Magnificent Cuckold”, published in 1921, and already the following year staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold in Moscow on the stage of the Actor’s Theater with Igor Ilyinsky and Maria Babanova in the lead roles. The Aquatint Picasso series to the poem by his friend Pierre Reverdy’s “Quicksand” is also fully presented. This is one of the few illustrative series executed by Picasso using the aquatint technique.

Four metal engravings accompanying this series from the collection of the Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin, also made in the technique of aquatint, once again confirms the fact that, illustrating the editions of livre d’artiste, Picasso often used his printed graphics at that time.

The technique of aquatint allows the engraver to work with wide spots, reminiscent of watercolors, to transmit an infinite tonal variety of one color. So, on a sheet from the collection of the Pushkin Museum “Artist at Work”, as well as in a similar image in the illustrative series of the Quicksand publication, the image of the painter’s figure is outlined by several dark spots that protrude against the light background of the sheet. This graphic manner of Picasso resembles the work of a wide brush. On other engravings, the silhouettes of the figures are given with light spots or drawn with light lines on a dark gray background.

Particularly noteworthy is the work of Picasso’s “Burial of Count Orgas” presented in the same section. In the mid-1950s, the artist was often visited by his Spanish friends, which served as an impetus for writing memories of Spain. In the period from January 6, 1957 to August 20, 1959, Picasso writes memoirs, meticulously fixing the date of each entry. Before him are pictures of his Andalusian childhood. As a title to his memoirs, the artist chooses the name of El Greco’s “Burial of Count Orgas”. Picasso accompanies thirteen most interesting etchings of the illustrative series with handwritten text made in colored pencils, which is included in the publication in lithographically printed form.

The same style of images is also recognized in the lithographs presented at the exhibition from the collection of the Pushkin Museum to them. A.S. Pushkin’s “The Comedian’s Family” and “Two Models”. Picasso creates sheets filled with air and light, in which the images of stray comedians coexist with antique characters.

Most of the lithographs and engravings of Picasso came to the Pushkin Museum from the collection of the writer and public figure I.G. Ehrenburg, who received them as a gift from Picasso himself, as evidenced by the gift inscriptions on the prints. Several sheets come from the collection of Daniel-Henri Canvaylera, an art dealer, publisher, and one of the creators of the livre d’artiste genre.

Another publication, entitled “In Memory of Roger Lyakurrier”, presented at the exposition, is a vivid demonstration of Picasso’s long-standing friendship and creative alliance with Ilya Zdanevich, a native of Georgia, Ilyazd, who became one of the best publishers and typographers of the 20th century in France and the best etcher of that same time Roger Lacurrier. This publication, carried out by Ilyazd in 1968, along with the works of other artists, includes Pablo Picasso etching and his article on the great printer.

One of the sections of the exhibition is devoted to the creation of Pablo Picasso in 1919, a series of sketches of costumes and scenery for the ballet "Three-cornered hat", staged as part of the Diaghilev seasons in Europe. The exposition presents a portfolio published in 1920 with thirty-two works by Picasso for the ballet “Triangle”, made in the technique of poshoir.

A separate exposition space of the exhibition is occupied by an extensive series of color lithographs of 1948 to the poem by Pierre Reverdy "Songs of the Dead" - one of Picasso’s most striking works. For this poem, the artist created 125 lithographs of bright red color, reminiscent of oriental calligraphy. Picasso used the poet’s handwritten text, supplementing it with his images. The sad tone of Reverdy’s “songs” contrasts with Picasso’s dramatic and sometimes joyful dance abstractions. As the publisher Teriad noted, this is reminiscent of a dialogue between a poet and an artist. The solution found by Picasso creates a completely unusual, bewitching sensation in the viewer, considering this magnificent joint work of the artist, poet and publisher.

It should be noted that most of the exhibits presented at the exhibition for the first time in Russia. Such a diverse range of works by Picasso will allow our viewer to get closer and more fully acquainted with the work of a brilliant artist of the last century. Explanatory texts for each edition presented in the exposition will introduce the viewer into the interesting world of creating works by livre d’artiste.

A catalog has been prepared for the opening of the exhibition with detailed descriptions and images of all Picasso’s works presented in the exposition and texts of articles introducing the reader to Picasso’s many years of work in the publications of livre d’artiste.

The exhibition project includes an educational program, within the framework of which lectures will be devoted to the work of Picasso, as well as meetings with leading experts, museum staff, artists, publishers. It is planned to organize round tables, watch films about the work of Picasso and about the artistic life of the last century, meet with the curator of the exhibition, artists, art critics who will share with the audience their perceptions of Picasso’s works created in the genre of livre d’artiste.

Vasily Kuznetsov, Director General of the New Jerusalem International Exhibition Complex:
“It is a great honor for us to open the first in our museum space exhibition of works by the largest artist of the last century, Pablo Picasso, together with the leading Russian museum. We managed to build an exposition that clearly demonstrates the work of Pablo Picasso in such a little-known genre in our country as the creation of illustrative cycles of original printed graphics, which are a kind of commentary by the artist on the texts of contemporary poets, writers and art historians. ”

Marina Loshak, Director of the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin:
“The exhibition is dedicated to the editions of livre d’artiste (“ artist’s book ”) by the outstanding master of the twentieth century Pablo Picasso. In recent years, this is the seventh project of our museum, introducing viewers to the best works of the world’s leading artists who worked in this genre. The Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin holds an exhibition in conjunction with the New Jerusalem Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Moscow Region in its exposition spaces. Thus, we are implementing our extensive program of cooperation with museums in various cities of the country.

An excellent draftsman, Picasso created a significant number of interesting graphic series for livre d’artiste. The bulk of the artist’s work is first shown in Russia. ”

Boris Fridman, collector, curator of the exhibition:
“A lot of what attracted me was combined in the artist’s book: ingenious artists of the twentieth century took part in these publications, interesting stories lie behind them. Each publication is the result of the joint work of an artist, text writer, printer, designer, publisher. ”

Curatorial group:
Boris Fridman, collector, curator of the exhibitions “Ilyazd. XX century Ilya Zdanevich. From private and museum collections in Russia and France ”,“ Caprichos ”. Goya and Dali ”,“ Surrealism and livre d’artiste ”,“ Book of the artist / Livre d’Artiste. Spanish collection. Picasso, Dali, Miro, Gris, Tapies, Clave. From the collections of George Gens and Boris Friedman

Julia Merenkova, researcher at the Department of engraving and drawing of the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin

Project Manager: Daria Milovanova, Deputy General Director of the New Jerusalem Museum and Exhibition Complex

reference

What is livre d’artiste? According to the curator of the exhibition B.M. Friedman, livre d’artiste - is an independent direction in art, along with other areas that were developed in the twentieth century. “In the Russian language, it would be preferable to use the term“ livredartism ”rather than the literal translation“ artist’s book ”. We hope that this will happen over time, ”says B.M. Friedman

In fact, livre d’artiste is a special type of publication of a literary text with illustrations made in the form of original printed graphics (lithography, etching, woodcut, etc.), which has a relatively small circulation (from tens to several hundred copies), printed on special grades of paper and designed in a certain way (as a rule, these are unbroken sheets, a box, a case). In most cases, such publications are signed by the author, artist or publisher.

The principal feature of livre d’artiste is that the artwork for them was created not by illustrators following the plot and the heroes of a literary work, but by artists whose main activity was the creation of easel paintings and drawings. They very rarely literally “retold” the text. In many cases, such illustrations very remotely reflected plot conflicts of the literary work itself and were at the same time independent works of fine art.

New Jerusalem International Exhibition Center The New Jerusalem Museum and Exhibition Complex in the Moscow Region is one of the largest regional museums connected by fate with the unique monument of Palestine outside Moscow - the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery.

The collection of the Museum, despite the enormous losses associated with the Great Patriotic War, is more than 180 thousand storage units: these are collections of archaeological and ethnographic materials, written sources and photo documents, manuscripts and rare books, numismatics, weapons, Russian and foreign pictorial materials of different eras )icon painting, sewing, painting, graphics, decorative and applied art of the 16th-21st centuries, etc.). The content of the collection reflects the historical and cultural development of the Moscow region, as one of the key regions of Russia, from its settlement to the present day. The museum collection also includes unique collections directly related to the history of the Resurrection New Jerusalem Monastery and the personality of its founder, the sixth patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Nikon.

Located on the northwestern edge of the city of Istra (formerly Voskresensk). Since its founding in 1920, located within the walls of the New Jerusalem Monastery, the Museum in 2013 moved to a new building, built for it in the immediate vicinity of the monastery, on the opposite bank of Istra.

The new building is the main, but not the only exposition and exhibition site of the Museum. Structurally, the New Jerusalem Museum, in addition to the new building, includes: Exhibition Hall and the Department of Wooden Architecture. The latter are located in the forested area of ​​Istra bend adjacent to the monastery. You can get to them both from the side of the main building of the Museum by a pedestrian bridge, specially built for this purpose, and from Volokolamsk highway.

Exhibition “Pablo Picasso. The artist and the book ”is the first appeal of the New Jerusalem Museum to the work of a foreign artist. The New Jerusalem Museum already has experience in large-scale projects. Starting from last year, within its walls one could see the works of Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Levitan.

State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin

State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin is a museum complex that has one of the largest art collections of foreign art in Russia, which stores artifacts created by masters of different eras - from Ancient Egypt and ancient Greece to the present day. Today, the Museum funds number about 700 thousand works. The pearl of the collection is a collection of French art of the 19th – 20th centuries - one of the most famous collections of works by the impressionists and post-impressionists in the world.

The museum, founded in 1912, is located in the historical center of Moscow, not far from the Kremlin. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts A.S. Pushkin presents to the general public outstanding world-class exhibitions. Over the past year, the Museum has implemented more than 43 projects in Moscow, abroad and in the regions of Russia. Among them are the exhibition “The Cranach Family. Between the Renaissance and Mannerism ”,“ Olympia ”by Eduard Manet,“ Lion Bakst / Léon Bakst. To the 150th anniversary of his birth ”,“ Raphael. Poetry of the image ”,“ Masterpieces of new art. Collection S.I. Shchukin "at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. The museum is also open to contemporary art and seeks to include it in a traditional context, in a dialogue with classics.

Thanks to active scientific, scientific, educational, research and exhibition activities, music festivals and unique art and educational work with children and adults, the Pushkin Museum. A.S. Pushkin is today one of the most significant cultural centers of Russia, which is visited annually by more than a million people. Currently, a large-scale reconstruction of museum buildings and structures is underway, the construction of the Museum Town is underway, which will be the first museum complex of its kind in Russia.