Picasso’s life as a foreigner

One of the most important artistic events of the season, the exhibition Picasso lo straniero (Picasso the foreigner) at the Museo del Corso was created in collaboration with other major museums, including the Musée national Picasso-Paris and features over 100 works by Picasso alongside documents, photographs, letters, and videos. After its success in Milan and Mantua, the Roman version of the exhibition also presents previously unseen works, selected exclusively for this venue. Curated by Annie Cohen-Solal, who developed the original concept, with support from Johan Popelard of the Musée Picasso-Paris, the exhibition delves into Picasso’s complex identity as an immigrant: despite having lived in France for most of his life, he was never granted French citizenship. The display also explores his artistic and political experience, especially focusing on his “Roman Spring” of 1917, a pivotal moment in the artist’s career, in which he interacted with artists and intellectuals such as Jean Cocteau, Erik Satie, Sergei Diaghilev, and Leonid Messine. As Cohen-Solal, author of Picasso. A Life as a Foreigner (Prix Femina Essai 2021) writes, “Picasso’s time in Rome was a period of personal and artistic renewal, following the French government’s confiscation of his Cubist works in 1914.” This exhibition offers the opportunity to explore how Picasso, through his being a foreigner, transformed modern art and solidified his role as one of the twentieth century’s greatest artists.

Until June 29. museodelcorso.com