Barcelona’s Picasso Museum explores the artist’s collages in a new exhibition

Barcelona (ACN).- The new exhibition ‘A collage before collage’ (Un collage abans del collage’) of Barcelona’s Picasso Museum shows Picasso’s representations in this technique that he officially invented in 1912. The pasted images of these paintings, such as magazines, allow the study of Picasso's environment, the context where he lived in. This is the first exhibition unveiled by Bernardo Laniado-Romero, Barcelona Museum’s new Director. Laniado-Romero presented his programme last week and said he had decided to continue along the same line as the last two directors of the Museum. He also explained that his objective is to reinforce the link between the museum and the city of Barcelona, and continue to seek international recognition for excellence. The temporary exhibition is on display from March 6^th to June 3^rd.

During the spring of 1912, Pablo Picasso invented artistic collage. However, 13 years before, in 1899, his painting called ‘Home arrepenjat en una paret’ includes a pasted image of an actress. This representation is the centre of the new exhibition at Barcelona’s Picasso Museum titled ‘Un collage abans del collage’ (‘A collage before collage’), which explores Picasso’s collages and why he pasted printed images on its paintings at the beginnings of cubism.

The attached images of stickers, matchboxes, magazines and advertising posters, allow for the contextualisation of the period and the artist’s surroundings. The outcome of the study of Picasso’s work ‘Home arrepenjat en una paret’ shows that his first collage was not made with the idea of being revolutionary. Fèlix Fanés, the exhibition curator, explains that “it was related to the visual environment of the period”. Picasso’s first collage was the result of his interest in the world of serial reproduction and graphic art during the first years of the 20^th century.

The collage technique is linked to cubism and represents the end of the old type of representation connected to pigment, and the beginning of the extraction of industrially reproduced messages. In his collages Picasso absorbed and reproduced what surrounded him. They are based on popular culture, mass consumption, advertisements and industrial reproduction.

The temporary exhibition consists of 107 pieces. It includes 32 Picasso representations and 8 paintings of Ramon Casas. The remaining pieces are documentation such as photos, magazines, posters and postcards. From March 6^th to June 3^rd visitors to the exhibition can see  14 films created between 1896 and 1900 from authors such as Lumière and Méliès, amongst others.

Laniado-Romero, the new director of Barcelona’s Picasso Museum

‘Un collage abans del collage’ is the first exhibition unveiled by the new director of Barcelona’s Picasso Museum, Bernardo Laniado-Romero (Guayaquil, Ecuador, 1964). He took over last month, after winning an international competition. Laniado-Romero studied at the Institute of Fine Art of the University of New York, and he was director of Malaga’s Picasso Museum between 2004 and 2009.

After the evaluation of 15 applications by an expert commission, Xavier Trias, Mayor of Barcelona, and Jaume Ciurana, Councillor for Culture of Barcelona’s City Council, presented the new director on February 29th. Ciurana said he expects Laniado-Romero to make more links between Picasso, Barcelona and Catalonia.

The expert commission was composed by the critic and art historian and member of the ‘Culture Council of Barcelona’ Daniel Giralt-Miracle; the former Director of the Tate Modern of London and curator Vicent Todolí; the art historian Marilyn McCully; the Deputy Director of the Centre Pompidou of Paris Brigitte Léal; the Director of the Miró Foundation Rosa Maria Malet; the Director of Heritage, Museums and Archives of the Barcelona’s Culture Institute Josep Lluís Alay; and the Director of Cultural Promotion at Barcelona’s Culture Institute, Llucià Homs.

The appointment of a new director for Barcelona’s Picasso Museum comes after the enlargement of the facilities, with the Centre of Knowledge and Research on Picasso, and the creation of Picasso’s Foundation. This last organisation was created to give a more autonomous management to the Museum and will be operational by June or July of 2012.

The strategy of Laniado-Romero

Bernardo Laniado-Romero asserts that his strategy is “do not discard the good, but strengthen it”. That is why he has opted to continue the work undertaken by the last two directors of Barcelona’s Picasso Museum, Maria Teresa Ocaña and Pepe Serra, promoting the link between Picasso’s Museum and Barcelona and Catalonia; and to reinforce the international connections of the Museum through its website.