Picasso

In the work of Pablo Ruiz Picasso (Málaga, 1881 – Mougins, France, 1973), drawing is not an auxiliary or complementary procedure but an indispensable tool. Drawing is a mental act which always involves a selection and emphasis of particular elements. Picasso’s artistic development was favoured by his family environment and encouraged by his father as he grew up. From 1893 the maturity of his line and his technical skill began to be evident. He made drawings in an academic style, but combining them with other compositions based on his own inspiration and observation of the world around him.

At the turn of the century, Picasso’s work shows a reaction against philosophical naturalism and he shifted towards an alignment with the new artistic languages of the avant gardes. From Paris, feeling becomes the primary matter of his work; he depicts the scenes of his life as they pass by, disregarding classical compositional rules. The period from 1906 to 1917 is characterised by a mixture of styles and creative freedom influenced by Iberian sculpture, African art and the schematic reduction of Paul Cezanne, a great influence for the artist and many others living in Paris in the early twentieth century. Since then, Picasso attempted to reduce nature to geometrical forms, in a process of intellectualisation led by intuition and sensitivity.

This exhibition of the artist’s work, which coincides with the opening of the IVAM, is also symbolically important because of the close relationship between Picasso and Julio González and their influence on one another. The importance of the drawing medium for both artists is a meeting point in their parallel trajectories; the two artists worked independently, but in mutual awareness.