If you want to immerse yourÂself in the world of Pablo PicasÂso, you might start at the Museo PicasÂso MálaÂga, locatÂed in the artist’s SpanÂish birthÂplace. But to underÂstand how his work develÂoped throughÂout his life, you’ll have to get out of Spain — which is just what PicasÂso did to accelÂerÂate that develÂopÂment in the first place. At the turn of the twenÂtiÂeth cenÂtuÂry, an ambiÂtious young EuroÂpean painter had to go to Paris, the conÂtiÂnenÂt’s art capÂiÂtal. PicasÂso endÂed up spendÂing much of his life there, makÂing it the most suitÂable locaÂtion for the MusĂ©e PicasÂso, home to the sinÂgle largest colÂlecÂtion of his artÂworks, from paintÂings and sculpÂtures to drawÂings and engravÂings, as well as an even largÂer archive of phoÂtographs, papers, and corÂreÂsponÂdence.
Now, you don’t actuÂalÂly have to make the trip to Paris to see these colÂlecÂtions, or at least an increasÂingÂly large porÂtion of their holdÂings. As Sarah Kuta reports at Smithsonian.com, thouÂsands of PicasÂso’s artÂworks are “now accesÂsiÂble from anyÂwhere with an interÂnet conÂnecÂtion, thanks to a new online archive creÂatÂed by the PicasÂso MuseÂum. The museÂum has digÂiÂtized thouÂsands of Picasso’s artÂworks, essays, poems, interÂviews and othÂer memÂoÂraÂbilÂia, includÂing items that have nevÂer been seen by the pubÂlic before.” The project began last year, with the digÂiÂtiÂzaÂtion of “around 19,000 phoÂtos”; if all goes accordÂing to plan, the museÂum will evenÂtuÂalÂly make “an addiÂtionÂal 200,000 docÂuÂments” availÂable online.
Browse the MusĂ©e PicasÂso’s online archive and you’ll find many works that, assumÂing you haven’t yet achieved full PicasÂso immerÂsion, you won’t have seen before: Femme couchĂ©e lisant from 1953, seen at the top of the post, for instance, or the earÂliÂer MasÂsacre en CorĂ©e just above. (Despite livÂing in Korea myself, I had no idea that PicasÂso paintÂed a KoreÂan War-themed picÂture, much less an episode of hisÂtoÂry that took place in the very neighÂborÂhood where I used to live.) Not everyÂthing is by PicasÂso, a good deal havÂing been made by artists with whom he was assoÂciÂatÂed, like Man Ray, who took this 1937 phoÂtoÂgraph of PicasÂso and his HisÂpano-Suiza car. You can find much more of interÂest in the archive’s themed secÂtions, like “FĂ©minin / MasÂculin” and “PicasÂso iconophage,” which are navÂiÂgaÂble only in French — a lanÂguage that, in any case, every PicasÂsophile should learn. Enter the digÂiÂtal archive here.
via SmithÂsonÂian
RelatÂed conÂtent:
A 3D Tour of Picasso’s GuerÂniÂca
Watch PicasÂso CreÂate a MasÂterÂpiece in Just Five MinÂutes (1955)
The Louvre’s Entire ColÂlecÂtion Goes Online: View and DownÂload 480,00 Works of Art
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities and the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.