Exclusive exhibition, organized with Musée national Picasso-Paris, explores how the Mediterranean region inspired Picasso’s legendary visual innovations

January 25, 2022

‘Picasso and the Allure of the South’ opens Jan. 29, 2022, at The Dalí Museum, with many works never seen in the U.S.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A landmark exhibition opens on Jan. 29, 2022, at The Dalí Museum with works by famed 20th-century master Pablo Picasso. The selected works beautifully reflect Picasso’s time in the south of France and northern Spain. Some of the artist’s most creative periods took place during summer sojourns in the mountain communities of the Pyrenees and along the Mediterranean coast, including Céret, Sorgues, Vallauris, Horta de Ebro and Cadaqués. Picasso and the Allure of the South considers Picasso’s deep connection to this cross-cultural region, where he made many of his most important contributions to modern art.

The exhibition’s 79 paintings, drawings and collages – approximately half of which have never been seen in the U.S. – are on loan from the Musée national Picasso-Paris and the Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Collection, New York. The Dalí is the only venue worldwide to present this exhibition, whichis curated by Dr. William Jeffett, The Dalí Museum’s chief curator.

Picasso and the Allure of the South offers a rare opportunity to experience the influence of northern Spain and southern France upon Picasso’s imagination as evidenced in his revolutionary work,” said Dr. Hank Hine, executive director of The Dalí. “In that zone spanning borders, Picasso drew on the ancient impulses and cultural inspiration of this region—its peoples, poetry, music and energy—to create consummate works of art across genres.” 

Born in Málaga, Spain, in 1881, Picasso spent his formative years in Barcelona, where he learned to speak Catalan. In the many places he lived, worked and visited throughout the Pyrenees and Mediterranean, Picasso found inspiration from the area’s landforms, histories, cultures and customs. 

Picasso and the Allure of the South presents an exceptional selection of portraits, still lifes, figural studies and landscapes dating from 1909 to 1972 that reflect Picasso’s career-long rapport with the provinces of his homeland and southern France. It also incorporates a robust selection of archival photographs of Picasso, his friends and the regions that so powerfully impacted his vision. The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections that trace the importance of the geographic region to Picasso’s work and legacy. 

The Birth of Cubism features a selection of drawings and collages that address how specific places in northern Spain and the French Mediterranean – far from the major cities of Paris and Barcelona – inspired Picasso’s early experimentation and the evolution of Cubism. From Cubism to Realism examines Picasso’s shift to a more playful approach to Cubist idioms and considers how the environment of the south profoundly impacted his work. In the third section, Corridas de Sud (bullfighting), the exhibition maps Picasso’s fascination with the corridafrom a very young age, a persistent subject throughout his long life as an artist. The exhibition concludes with Surrealism and Beyond, when Picasso’s painting turned to the unconscious and the impulsive, filtered through his rich synthesis of the light and color of the south. 

Visitors to The Dalí may further their understanding of the genre of Cubism through the Museum’s exclusive new artificial intelligence experience called YOUR PORTRAIT. Guests can have their photo transformed into a one-of-a-kind Cubist work of art. While their unique portrait is being generated, they will gain insight into Cubist imagery, compositions and color palettes alongside experiencing how the machine-learning application mimics those characteristics.  

The exhibition is accompanied by a beautifully illustrated, 240-page catalog published by Ludion and supported by the Embassy of Spain with essays by the curator and Emilia Philippot, head of collections at the Musée national Picasso-Paris.

            A host of public programs have been organized in conjunction with the exhibition, including in the popular Coffee with a Curator series, a lecture on the life of Pablo Picasso with curator of education Peter Tush on Feb. 2; an evening of wine tasting, focused on wines from southern France on Feb. 15; a ceramic plate workshop on Mar. 8; and the Museum’s Film Club continues during the exhibition once-a-month with the theme, “the power of place.” For a complete roundup of events and additional details, visit TheDali.org/events.

Advance-purchase timed tickets are required to visit The Dalí. Picasso and the Allure of the South is included in the price of Museum admission. Tickets are available at TheDali.org.

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Musée national Picasso-Paris. The presenting sponsor of Picasso and the Allure of the South is Sabal Trust with additional support from Stephen Andon & Susan Robertson, Dr. and Mrs. Anthony & Rosemarie Terra, Mr. and Mrs. Jake & Ingrid Jacobus, and Ryan Companies.

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About The Dalí Museum
The Dalí Museum, located in picturesque downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, is home to one of the most acclaimed collections of a single modern artist in the world, with over 2,000 works representing every moment and medium of Salvador Dalí’s creative life. The Dalí is recognized internationally by the Michelin Guide with a three-star rating; has been deemed “one of the top buildings to see in your lifetime” by AOL Travel News; and was named one of the 10 most interesting museums in the world by Architectural Digest. The Dalí’s acclaimed digital experiences have received numerous national and international awards for creative innovation. The Museum is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to preserve Dalí’s legacy for generations to come and serve as an active resource in the cultural life of the community and the world at large. The Dalí is open daily, located at One Dalí Boulevard, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701. For more information visit TheDali.org or download the free Dalí Museum App.

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Media contact: Stephanie Elton | Blue Water Communications
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