The
Picasso and Comics
exhibition
, the first to highlight the Spanish painter's taste for the ninth art, opens its doors Wednesday until January 2, 2022 at the international city of comics and images of Angouleme.
Read also: Picasso, a great fan of comics finally sketched by the cartoonists
"
This exhibition shows how the comic strip crosses in a subtle way all the work of Picasso
", commented Pierre Lungheretti, general manager of the establishment which welcomes the public since May 19, after more than six months of imposed closure. by the Covid-19 crisis.
The exhibition, presented last year at the Musée national Picasso-Paris, unveils around 150 works, including around 30 by the Spanish painter.
They mainly come from the Picasso museums in Paris and Barcelona as well as from the painter's personal collection.
"Picasso read comics in the newspapers that his friends lent him and drew a lot of inspiration from this popular imagery"
Anne Hélène Hoog, director of the comic strip museum
Among those on display are sketchbooks, sketches and caricatures of Pablo Picasso inspired by comics. “
As a child, Picasso already produced small series of narrative images mixing texts and drawings,
” says Anne Hélène Hoog, director of the comic strip museum. The exhibition also shows comic strips read by the painter, such as
L'Épatant
or
Pulgacito
. "
Picasso read comics in the newspapers that his friends lent him and drew a lot of inspiration from this popular imagery
", according to Anne Hélène Hoog. This inspiration is expressed in the series of engravings dating from 1937 entitled
Songe et mensonge de Franco.
, major work of the exhibition on the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).
"
These engravings in the form of successive boxes translate the idea of a fragmented story and to be recomposed as in cubism
", analyzes the director of the museum.
The last part of the tour reports on the presence of Pablo Picasso in contemporary comics.
The figure of the Spanish painter is found in the plates of the authors Philippe Geluck, Philippe Dupuis or Daniel Torres.
“
This exhibition highlights the designer Pablo Picasso, imbued with the popular culture of his time.
It proves that Picasso is not just a painter of genius but that his work belongs to everyone's culture
, ”concludes Anne Hélène Hoog.