Pablo Picasso
dal 16/5/2008 al 19/7/2008
Segnalato da
16/5/2008
Pablo Picasso
University Museum and Art Gallery - UMAG, Hong Kong
The Vollard Suite: an exhibition of a hundred intaglio prints. The serie is named after the famous French art dealer, Ambroise Vollard, and is generally grouped into 5 categories: The Sculptor's Studio, The Battle of Love, Rembrandt, The Minotaur and The Blind Minotaur.
The Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau and The University
Museum and Art Gallery are delighted to present "Pablo Picasso: The Vollard
Suite", an exhibition of a hundred intaglio prints by the great artist,
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973).
The Vollard Suite is named after the famous French art dealer, Ambroise
Vollard (1867–1939) who worked for Picasso until 1910. In 1930, Vollard
commissioned a hundred prints from the artist, which were completed in 1937
and given to master printer Roger Lacouriere to print. Vollard died in a car
accident in 1939 and the prints were kept in his storeroom until 1948 when
the Parisian dealer, Henri Petiet bought them. Petiet felt the prints were
of such a diverse nature that he sold them in groups or individually. It was
not until 1956, when the Swiss book dealer, Hans Bolliger, published them in
book form that scholars began to consider the prints as an integrated set.
The Vollard Suite is generally grouped into five categories: The Sculptor's
Studio, The Battle of Love, Rembrandt, The Minotaur and The Blind Minotaur.
In addition, there are twenty-seven prints on disparate themes, including
three portraits of Ambroise Vollard. The prints are characterized by an
emphasis on classical and neo-classical subjects. Archetypes from Greek
mythology, such as the Minotaur and Pygmalion were depicted and
reinterpreted to reveal Picasso's thoughts on the relationship between the
artist and his creativity, and the artist and his model.
In the Vollard Suite, the most commonly used printmaking technique is
etching, as well as drypoint and aquatint. Etching uses acid to etch the
design onto a metal plate, while drypoint uses a sharp metal point to incise
directly onto the plate. Aquatint creates a tonal effect by using fine
particles of resin; two of the portraits of Ambroise Vollard have been
executed in aquatint.
Picasso used precise and simple lines to create these imaginative and
characteristic works. The Vollard Suite is regarded as the most remarkable
set of prints by Picasso.
On Saturday 17 May, Pascal Torres, curator of the chalcographic department
of the Louvre Museum, Paris will give a lecture on the Vollard Suite (in
French with simultaneous translation in English), at 3 pm at the Museum.
University Museum and Art Gallery - UMAG
94 Bonham Road, Pokfulam (University of Hong Kong)
The opening hours of the Museum are 9:30 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Saturday
and 1:00 to 6:00 pm on Sundays. The Museum is closed on University and
public holidays. Admission is free.