The new Picasso exhibition at The Lightbox in Woking is here!

Starting with his early works such as ^ this one ^ above, the pastel and watercolour dates from Picasso’s time in Barcelona in 1899.

Picasso had no formal training in printmaking but he said, ‘I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.’

He took an experimental approach and loved to explore different processes as it allowed for creative input and controlled output. He was prolific and during his lifetime Picasso made at least 2,200 prints.

‘My hand tells me what I am thinking’.
Towards the end of the 1940s, Picasso spent his summers on the Cote d’Azur in the South of France and in 1946 he visited the nearby village of Vallauris, near Cannes and Antibes. He was introduced to the owners of the Madoura Ceramic Studio who gave him access to all the tools and resources he needed to express his creativity.

While I was walking around the exhibition, I was surprised to learn that many of the works were for sale.

This drawing is characteristic of Picasso’s semi-surrealist work of the mid-1920s. The drawing appears to be a portrait of a woman resembling Marie-Therese Walter who became Picasso’s lover and muse for a decade. Picasso made drawings and paintings of women who looked like his lovers before he had even met them! It seems that he was attracted to women who resembled the figures in his paintings.

This printed cotton ^ was one of a series of dress and furnishing textiles launched by Fuller Fabrics of the USA in the mid-1950s. The firm commissioned Picasso to make designs for their ‘Modern Masters Prints’. They worked together on the choice of designs for reproduction and the colourways so that they reflected Picasso’s palette and technique.

It’s an amazing exhibition, you must go as soon as you can!

Picasso: Paper and Clay is on at The Lightbox until 24th June.