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Extended through February 18, 2017

Picasso’s Picassos

A Selection from the Collection of Maya Ruiz-Picasso

November 10, 2016–February 18, 2017
976 Madison Avenue, New York

Installation view Artwork © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Installation view

Artwork © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Installation view Artwork © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Installation view

Artwork © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Installation view Artwork © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Installation view

Artwork © 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Works Exhibited

Pablo Picasso, Marie-Thérèse, face et profil, 1931 Oil and charcoal on canvas, 43 ⅜ × 31 ⅞ inches (111 × 81 cm)© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Marie-Thérèse, face et profil, 1931

Oil and charcoal on canvas, 43 ⅜ × 31 ⅞ inches (111 × 81 cm)
© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Marie-Thérèse avec une guirlande, 1937 Oil and pencil on canvas, 24 × 18 ⅛ inches (61 × 46 cm)© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatalala

Pablo Picasso, Marie-Thérèse avec une guirlande, 1937

Oil and pencil on canvas, 24 × 18 ⅛ inches (61 × 46 cm)
© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatalala

Pablo Picasso, Maya à la poupée et au cheval, 1938 Oil on canvas, 28 ¾ × 23 ⅝ inches (73 × 60 cm)© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Maya à la poupée et au cheval, 1938

Oil on canvas, 28 ¾ × 23 ⅝ inches (73 × 60 cm)
© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Marie-Thérèse accoudée, 1939 Oil on canvas, 25 ⅝ × 18 ⅛ inches (65 × 46 cm)© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Marie-Thérèse accoudée, 1939

Oil on canvas, 25 ⅝ × 18 ⅛ inches (65 × 46 cm)
© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, La femme enceinte, 1959 Plaster, 44 ⅛ × 12 ⅝ × 13 ¾ inches (112 × 32 × 35 cm)© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, La femme enceinte, 1959

Plaster, 44 ⅛ × 12 ⅝ × 13 ¾ inches (112 × 32 × 35 cm)
© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Mousquetaire à l’épée assis, 1969 Oil on canvas, 76 ¾ × 51 ¼ inches (195 × 130 cm)© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

Pablo Picasso, Mousquetaire à l’épée assis, 1969

Oil on canvas, 76 ¾ × 51 ¼ inches (195 × 130 cm)
© 2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Béatrice Hatala

About

Gagosian is pleased to present Picasso’s Picassos: A Selection from the Collection of Maya Ruiz-Picasso, an exhibition of works from the collection of Maya Ruiz-Picasso, organized by Diana Widmaier Picasso.

Maya Ruiz-Picasso, born on September 5, 1935, is the daughter of Pablo Picasso and his iconic muse Marie-Thérèse Walter. Her personal collection is the result of an extraordinary legacy: Picasso died in 1973, leaving behind a vast body of work including paintings, drawings, sculptures, ceramics, engravings, and lithographs, as well as personal archives and photographs which were divided between his surviving heirs (the four children and his last wife). In 1979, the artworks donated to the French State by Picasso’s heirs enriched the national collection and allowed for the creation of the Musée Picasso in Paris, a monographic museum entirely devoted to the artist’s life and work.

Since her father’s death, Maya Ruiz-Picasso has dedicated her time and energy to highlighting Picasso’s genius, contributing to its knowledge through her expertise and support of many projects. In the 1980s, she presented a part of her collection in several exhibitions in Asia, showing Picasso’s most intimate images and unpublished archival material. While she has donated works to leading arts institutions over the years, she continues to dwell among her favorites, surrounding herself and her children with an intimate “family album” unlike any other.

This unique collection of paintings and sculpture, selected by Maya’s daughter, art historian and curator Diana Widmaier Picasso, includes major works in an unprecedented exhibition. Drawn from the forty-year period between 1931 and 1971, the selection provides a personal view of the family history reflected in Picasso’s celebrated oeuvre. They include several portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter; the famous portrait of Maya as a child, Maya à la poupée et au cheval (1938); Le Baiser (1931), depicting a voracious kiss expressing an act of both love and violence; and El bobo (1959), the portrait of a lovable street urchin, inspired by characters in paintings by Spanish old masters Velázquez and Murillo. Also on view is the plaster model of Picasso’s figure of the pregnant Françoise Gilot, La femme enceinte (1959).

Picasso’s Picassos: A Selection from the Collection of Maya Ruiz-Picasso is the first chapter in a series of focused exhibitions that will explore emergent themes in this unique collection.

Diana Widmaier-Ruiz-Picasso standing in front of a bookcase

Picasso and Maya: An Interview with Diana Widmaier-Ruiz-Picasso

Diana Widmaier-Ruiz-Picasso curated an exhibition at Gagosian, Paris, in 2017–18 titled Picasso and Maya: Father and Daughter. To celebrate the exhibition, a publication was published in 2019; the comprehensive reference publication explores the figure of Maya Ruiz-Picasso, Pablo Picasso’s beloved eldest daughter, throughout Picasso’s work and chronicles the loving relationship between the artist and his daughter. In this video, Widmaier-Ruiz-Picasso details her ongoing interest in the subject and reflects on the process of making the book.

A Foreigner Called Picasso

Behind the Art
A Foreigner Called Picasso

Join president of the Picasso Museum, Paris, Cécile Debray; curator, writer, biographer, and historian Annie Cohen-Solal; art historian Vérane Tasseau; and Gagosian director Serena Cattaneo Adorno as they discuss A Foreigner Called Picasso. Organized in association with the Musée national Picasso–Paris and the Palais de la Porte Dorée–Musée national de l’histoire de l’immigration, Paris, the exhibition reframes our perception of Picasso and focuses on his status as a permanent foreigner in France.

Dora Maar, Portrait de Picasso, Paris, studio du 29, rue d’Astorg, winter 1935–36

A Foreigner Called Picasso

Cocurator of the exhibition A Foreigner Called Picasso, at Gagosian, New York, Annie Cohen-Solal writes about the genesis of the project, her commitment to the figure of the outsider, and Picasso’s enduring relevance to matters geopolitical and sociological.

Black and white image of  Pieter Mulier. Photo: © Paolo Roversi, courtesy Alaïa

Fashion and Art: Pieter Mulier

Pieter Mulier, creative director of Alaïa, presented his second collection for the legendary house in Paris in January 2022. After the presentation, Mulier spoke with Derek Blasberg about the show’s inspirations, including a series of ceramics by Pablo Picasso, and about his profound reverence for the intimacy and artistry of the atelier.

Portrait of Sir John Richardson, New York, 2005. Photo: Janette Beckman/Getty Images

The Art of Biography: Sir John Richardson’s “The Minotaur Years”

Pepe Karmel celebrates the release of A Life of Picasso IV: The Minotaur Years, 1933–1943, the final installment of Sir John Richardson’s magisterial biography.

A black-and-white portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler seated at a desk in front of a painting by Pablo Picasso.

Game Changer
Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler

Michael Cary pays homage to the visionary dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1884–1979).

News

Picasso and Maya: Father and Daughter (New York: Gagosian, 2019)

Book Launch

Picasso and Maya
Father and Daughter

November 29–December 19, 2019
Gagosian, 4 rue de Ponthieu, Paris

Gagosian and Diana Widmaier-Picasso are presenting a small exhibition to celebrate the publication of Picasso and Maya: Father and Daughter. This comprehensive reference publication explores the figure of Maya Ruiz-Picasso, Pablo Picasso’s beloved eldest daughter, throughout Picasso’s work and chronicles the loving relationship between the artist and his daughter. On view will be a painting by Picasso, photographs of work by Picasso taken by Roe Ethridge, and a selection of the original archival materials featured in the book.

Download the full press release in English (pdf) or French (pdf)

Picasso and Maya: Father and Daughter (New York: Gagosian, 2019)