Artist Pablo Picasso is most famous for co-founding Cubism, a new style of modern painting, in the early 1900s. Inspired by African art, Picasso’s cubist pieces utilized geometric components to create figures and forms. While his most famous works, such as Guernica and Girl Before a Mirror, are examples from his cubist period, he was also a prolific landscape artist throughout his career and its various stages.
The Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds exhibit celebrates his lesser recognized works from this genre. From his beginnings in art school right up until his death, Picasso explored the intersection of man and nature through his landscape works. This traveling exhibit features over 45 pieces and is part of The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, a series of exhibitions around the world commemorating the 50th anniversary of the artist’s death.
The Mint Museum in Charlotte is one of only two venues in the United States to host this unique exhibit. Running from February 11 to May 21, the exhibit can be visited with a pre-purchased, timed-entry $25 ticket. Fortunately for us, my oldest son visited the exhibit (for free!) with his high school art class and was given a voucher for free entry for the family. Not only were we able to see the exhibit for free, but we were able to show up at any time, even on sold-out days. We were very grateful to the Mint Museum for extending this opportunity to CMS art students and their families!
The exhibit was organized into different sections representing both the different phases of his career and specific themes in his paintings. An audio tour was available by scanning QR codes at 10 different locations throughout the exhibit. Unfortunately we didn’t think to bring headphones so we learned by reading the informative signs throughout the exhibit, as well as through the interactive screens available in the different seating areas.
While I find Picasso’s work interesting, it isn’t necessarily my favorite style of painting. But I was blown away by his landscapes. Somehow the use of cubism in landscapes was more appealing to me than in human figures. I really gained a new sense of appreciation for the style through his landscapes. (I will say that my youngest son did not gain a similar appreciation for the style. He didn’t love it and ended up exploring the rest of the museum, where he especially enjoyed the glass works in the Craft + Design exhibit.)
As a bonus, the exhibit features a selection of works from Charlotte native Romare Bearden, who was strongly influenced by Picasso. Demonstrating the parallels between their works, this was a neat local touch to a national exhibit.
The Picasso Landscapes exhibit is such a unique collection of his work. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see another side of his painting and feel fortunate that this traveling exhibit came to Charlotte. (The exhibit’s next (and final) stop is the Cincinnati Art Museum from June 23 through October 15.)
