Picasso's Women in the Musée Picasso, Paris
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A year ago, I was preparing to move from Paris to Montreal. A major strategy in emotionally processing this big change was to visit as many Parisian museums as possible. One of the museums I visited was the Musée Picasso, recently reopened after being closed for a five-year renovation project. After following the dramatic saga of the delays for the opening, there was no way I could leave town before checking out its shiny new look.
The museum is located in the Hôtel Salé, a 17th century hôtel particulier in the Marais. In the context of this sublime architecture, a bounty of artwork by Picasso is elegantly displayed. I soaked in the colors and forms.
As I wandered the galleries, I felt myself drawn to the representations of women. From realistic to utterly abstract, women were omnipresent in the artworks. Some paintings featured anonymous prototypes of women; some were portraits of Picasso’s muses. Picasso knew the subject well: he was married twice and had four children by three women.
I decided to go on a photo safari, a trick in my museum toolbox that helps me look at objects more closely. You simply pick a theme and focus on details found in artworks around that theme, with the aim of looking at everything differently. This visit’s theme was women.
And so I present Women, as found in the Musée Picasso:
This is an installment of this month's creativity theme of WOMEN. If you missed it, check out a description of the project here!
Address: 5, rue Thorigny, 75003 Paris ∣ Métro: Saint-Paul (line 1), Saint-Sébastien-Froissart (line 8), Chemin Vert (line 8) ∣ Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 6pm
