The Cité du Vin is creating the unmissable event of spring 2022 in Bordeaux, devoting a major exhibition to one of the most important artists of the 20th century: Pablo Picasso.
Picasso, the effervescence of shapes, running from 15 April to 28 August 2022, explores the place of wine and popular spirits in the work of Pablo Picasso, through a wide variety of media (paintings, drawings, ceramics, films, etc.).
The Foundation for Wine Culture and Civilisations has invited historian and art critic Stéphane Guégan, as scientific curator, to devise an exhibition for a general audience that is both original and ambitious.
Bringing together more than eighty works, thanks in particular to the exceptional participation of the Musée national Picasso-Paris and the Museu Picasso de Barcelona, the exhibition sheds new light on Pablo Picasso’s works and reveals the effervescent creativity that inspired him throughout his life.
An original exploration of the multifaceted work of Picasso
With 5 chronologically themed sections, Picasso, the effervescence of shapes highlights for the first time the place of wine and spirits throughout the painter’s career, combining the intoxication of life, intoxication of the senses and intoxication of shapes.
“Thanks to the participation of numerous French and Spanish museums and private collectors, we are able to offer a totally original exhibition. It reveals the profusion of symbolic or formal references to wine and spirits in Picasso’s works and the extraordinary creativity of their author, which cannot be reduced to a single style or medium,” says Marion Eybert, manager of special exhibitions at the Cité du Vin.
Representations of cafés and drinkers, variations on glass and bottle during the Cubist period, striking, sometimes dramatic evocations steeped in Catholicism or Graeco-Roman mythology... the exhibition pays tribute to the artist’s prolific output and to the diversity of media used: painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture. Two original sequences at the heart of the exhibition also highlight Picasso’s fruitful relationships with poets (Guillaume Apollinaire and Paul Eluard, for example) and his work as a ceramicist. Finally, the exhibition welcomes some of Picasso’s contemporaries, such as Juan Gris or Georges Braque, and recent re-interpretations by Erró, Chéri Samba and RH.
Immersion into the heart of the creator’s work
The inventive staging from Atelier Maciej Fiszer enhances appreciation of Picasso’s creative power by allowing true immersion into the heart of his work. Photographs of Picasso and chronological cues mark out the exhibition, guiding visitors as they discover key moments in the artist’s career. Audiovisual archives and some nods to popular culture, including posters and bottles, complete the exhibition tour.
With this exhibition, the Cité du Vin continues its environmentally friendly approach to design, by reusing exhibition furniture as always and through its collaboration with Atelier Maciej Fiszer, which in recent years has demonstrated its expertise in sustainable development and commitment to the issue.
A dedicated programme of cultural events is also on offer, to explore the various themes addressed in the exhibition.
This exhibition is made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors.
Crédits photos
Boris Lipnitzki (1887-1971) - Studio Lipnitzki
Pablo Picasso in the Madoura studio, Vallauris, in 1948
Musée national Picasso – Paris
© Roger-Viollet / Studio Lipnitzki © Picasso Estate 2021 © RMN