Picasso: The Vollard Suite

Picasso fans will want to make sure they get to the Queensland Art Gallery to see a rare set of etchings and engravings of his in Picasso: The Vollard Suite, December 2 – April 15.

A National Gallery of Australia exhibition, Brisbane is privileged to have it on loan for a few months. It focuses on the rare complete set of 100 etchings, engravings and aquatints created by the ground-breaking artist in the 1930s, and takes its name from Picasso’s sometime art dealer and publisher, Ambroise Vollard.

Picasso: The Vollard Suite contains a range of themes which Picasso often represented – most notably the classically derived subjects of the Minotaur (the man-beast) and Pygmalion (the artist obsessed with his model).

Picasso identified himself and his sense of artistic creativity and sexuality with the Minotaur, and there is much evidence of this in The Vollard Suite. A major emphasis in these prints was devoted to transformations of the artist into this mythical alter-ego. Similarly autobiographical in tone were his interpretations of Pygmalion, emphasising his view of himself as an artist and lover. Several works display his muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, and her extraordinary ‘classical’ countenance.

To complement this must-see exhibition, QAGOMA have selected classical and contemporary sculptures from the Gallery’s collection to accompany it.

*Closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday.

By Vicki Englund