Picasso Normandy Landings Leslie Caron Les Apéritifs Eco-Friendly

© Photo CnAC/MnAM, Dist. RMn/Droits réservés - Succession Picasso
CHASInG PICASSO
THE SPAnISH ARTIST LIvED AnD WORKED MAny A yEAR In Sun-DREnCHED PROvEnCE AnD THE RIvIERA. SEvERAL MAJOR
ExHIBITIOnS ARE PuTTInG PICASSO In THE SPOTLIGHT THE WHOLE yEAR ROunD, OFFERInG A nEW PERSPECTIvE On HIS LIFE
AnD WORK.
By JuLIEn BISSOn
When he christened one of his first major paintings Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in honor of a brothel on
Avinyó Street in Barcelona, Picasso surely did not realize that he was on his way to this Provençal
city; more specifically, to Sorgues—a small town only a few miles from Avignon where he spent three
years (1912-14) with his friend Georges Braque. It was here that he painted his first “Arlésienne,” a
feminine figure emblematic of Provence that Picasso would continue to paint throughout his life. He
also accompanied his friends Braque and Derain, who were mobilized, to the Avignon train station
at the dawn of World War I. The city certainly has not forgotten that Picasso spent time there; some
of his paintings are currently being displayed at the new Musée Angladon.
The love affair between the artist and the region didn’t truly begin however until after World War II.
Regarded as persona non grata in Francoist Spain, Picasso found the sunny bucolic landscapes
resembled those he knew as a child. In 1946, he lived for a short time in Ménerbes (in the heart
of Luberon) and gave one of the village’s most beautiful villas to Dora Maar upon ending their
liaison. nearby, lies the charming but very touristy Les Baux-de-Provence, where Cocteau filmed his
Testament of Orpheus—in which Picasso played his only film role, that of a painter. More towards
the south, Arles is a must-see destination. A painter like Picasso was bound to be drawn to this
ancient Roman city; firstly, for its bullfighting and secondly, because the presence of vincent van
Gogh (who experienced a very inspired period there) could still be felt. In 1971, Picasso donated
two paintings and fifty-seven drawings to the city he was so enamored with; they can be viewed
at the majestic Musée Réattu.
There was however another painter in the area that Picasso was pursuing, a painter who lived
in the “town of water,” Paul Cézanne. Born in Aix-en-Provence, the master of space and colors
had an undisputable influence on Picasso’s work, as demonstrated in the vast exhibition Picasso-
Cézanne being presented from May 25 to September 27, 2009 at the Musée Granet. At the foot of
the mythical mountain Sainte-victoire, this event, boasting a hundred pieces from both public
and private collections, promises to be both outstanding and original. Influenced in his younger
Nature morte à la dame-jeanne, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) - Paris, national Museum of Modern Art - Georges Pompidou Center
© P. Leroux
Sainte-victoire