Pablo Picasso's incorruptible desire to permanently reinvent his art, to push it beyond the limits of his time, materialized not only in his spirit of rupture and innovation, but also in his desire to devour and reinterpret the works of the past. Picasso. The Sacred and the Profane” studies the audacity and originality with which the artist approached both the classical world and the themes of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and reveals his ability to integrate elements and problems of previous art in his own work and to reflect on the ultimate essence of painting. Traumatic and existential at times, vitalist and hopeful at others, Picasso looks at the art of the past and reveals new ways of interpreting history and, with his clear-sightedness, continues to give us fundamental keys to the uncertain contemporary world.
The exhibition includes some thirty works that are presented in three rooms on the first floor of the museum. Picasso's works belonging to the Museum and various loans from the Musée national Picasso Paris and other collectors and institutions will dialogue with paintings by El Greco, Rubens, Zurbarán, Van der Hamen, Delacroix, a sculpture by Pedro de Mena and engravings by Goya. The first section reveals how Picasso assimilates the tradition of portraiture and religious imagery and transforms it into a whole repertoire of promiscuous and profane characters. The second brings us closer to the most intimate and domestic affairs with still lifes and maternity hospitals. And a third room contrasts the traditional theme of the Passion with scenes of violence or sacrifice, in crucifixions, bullfights, or in Picasso's dramatic women of the thirties.
