"Picasso papiers colles" at the Musee Picasso - Paris, France - Review of Exhibitions - Brief Article

With the thousands of works of art by dint of Pablo Picasso which have been exhibited and discussed in scholarly articles, popular magazines and all manner of volumes it's hard to believe that a unostentatious show with less than sum of two units dozen papiers colles executed between autumn 1912 and summer 1914 could make a difference in the understanding and appreciation of this protean artist. still that was exactly the case with a cluster of radiant works on view late last spring at the Musee Picasso. Barely known from postage-stamp-size black-and-white reproductions in a catalogue of the paintings have a title toed by the Musee Picasso, and misdated in Zervo these papiers colle are new vibrant and astonishingly varied. Succinctly structur they recommend Minimalism avant la lettre and prefigure as well Picasso's be in possession of subsequent NeoClassic period. Many portray figures with musical instruments. They have big, dauntless shapes, broad areas of color, and apportionments of "breathing" room. The earliest of the works have hardly any drawn lines; in the ease geometric as well as representational marks animate the overall surfaces rather than define discrete areas. And instead of rectangular borders, several works from 1914 have shaped contours. In addition to complet compositions, a certain number of fragments were also shown: hand-colored and cutout shapes, ranging from pipes and light scaly buds to a goblet and a squid. The greatest in quantity surprising work is the "ghost" violin, a cutout which reposes between two sheets of laid paper; its enchanting shape was single made visible when a button upon the case where it lay was squeezeed to illuminate a light beneath it. a certain quantity of much larger pasted papers, from the later teen and the '20 and sum of two units pocket-sized cahiers rounded out this beautiful, focused installation.

The 1912-14 papiers colle not long ago seen in Paris have a different character from their better-known brethren which belong to museums in the U and Europe They are more casual, a great deal of less solemn. Instead of austerity, they throw the master's humor and wit. The heads of these musicians are whimsical, verging upon caricature; their instruments are anthropomorphic; the figures inhabit topsy-turvy toonish streetscapes in summarily arranged vignettes. The many erudite theories about the artist which have been based upon his other, much more manifold papier colles simply do not apply to this clump of Picasso's Picassos.

These newly exhibited works are more ephemeral than the better-known pasted papers. Their transient tone is underscored in this exhibit by the straight pins which clinch several together. At the jiffy these works were made, Picasso's life was a bit nomadic. With his of recent origin companion Eva Gouel, his "Ma Jolie," he worn out two long summers in Ceret; three seasons in an atelier upon Boulevard Raspail; and another three seasons in a nearby flat upon rue Schoelcher. About the time the last of these papiers colle was execut Gouel was diagnosed with a fatal illness. These works upon paper portray the life the two shared for a short time before the Great War and her death. They are beautiful, light-filled, poignant--visual melodies to be savored and enjoyed

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