Picasso: The Great War, Experimentation and Change at The Barnes Foundation

Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881 – 1973). Still Life with Compote and Glass, 1914–15. Oil on canvas, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH. © 2013 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York | Gift of Ferdinand Howald

‘Experience 50 Works By Picasso Highlighting Pieces From World War I’

This majestic Picasso exhibit: The Great War, Experimentation and Change, is being shown at The Barnes Foundation from February 21 to May 9.

This special Picasso exhibit in partnership with the Columbus Museum of Art will examine the dramatic variance in Pablo Picasso’s style during the period surrounding World War I. Visitors will be able to travel back in time to witness his fluctuation between cubism and a more classical method of natural representation, which will be scene through his 50 pieces of work.

Unlike other members of the Parisian avant-garde, Picasso never directly addressed the First World War as a subject in his art. Instead, he began experimenting with naturalistic representation, turning out classical figure drawings that outraged many of his avant-garde colleagues—this was quite a shift from the radical cubist approach he had been developing since 1907.

The exhibit includes oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, and four costumes the artist designed for an avant-garde ballet, Parade, in 1917. The show also features several pieces by Picasso’s contemporaries, including Georges Braque and Henri Matisse.

The exhibition also features four costumes that Picasso designed for the avant-garde ballet, Parade, which premiered in Paris in 1917: the original Chinese Conjurer costume and reproductions of the American Manager, French Manager, and Horse costumes. Performed by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, with music by Erik Satie, story by Jean Cocteau, and the choreography of Léonide Massine, Parade was the first cross-disciplinary collaboration of its kind. 

Location

The Barnes Foundation
2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Dates

February 21 – May 9, 2016

Hours

Monday  |  10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday  |  Closed
Wednesday – Sunday  |  10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Open 6:00 pm –9:00 pm on First Fridays and select Friday evenings. 

Costs

Collection + exhibition access: $29
Collection + exhibition access (senior): $27
Collection + exhibition access (student/youth): $15 *
Exhibition-only ticket: $14 (walk-up only) 
Members  |  Free
Children (0-5)  | Free

^*Visitors aged 65 and older  ^**Visitors aged 17 and younger and full-time students with valid student ID

Phone

(215) 278-7000

Web Site

• Picasso: The Great War, Experimentation and Change exhibit

• The Barnes Foundation

Photos Courtesy of The Barnes Foundation