Current Exhibition
Pablo Picasso
Collection Klewan
November 3, 2024 to February 16, 2025
Introduction: Prof. Dr. Christiane Lange, Director Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
The painter, draughtsman, graphic artist and sculptor Pablo Picasso was born in Málaga, Spain, in 1881 and died in Mougins, France, in 1973. With his creative power and genius, he is one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His stylistic diversity and creative development, which often appears erratic but is nevertheless consistent, is visualised in the special exhibition by means of 60 of his works.
All of the loans come from the private collection of former gallery owner Helmut Klewan, who now lives in Vienna. Pablo Picasso's graphic oeuvre is the most extensive left behind by any artist in the last century. Picasso created his first etching at the age of 18. From then on, he passionately experimented with different printing techniques until he was very old, constantly reinventing himself. The exhibition's most striking groups of motifs are sheets on the themes of ‘Artist and Model’, ‘Portraits’, “Scenes on the beach” and “Myths: Minotaur and Faun”. Studio scenes with artist and model as well as nudes in various poses are recurring themes in his work. The levels of meaning are multi-layered and dependent on the respective biographical circumstances. What unites them is the reflection on the role of the artist and his relationship to the model. However, Pablo Picasso's numerous portraits are mostly based on his imagination and less on modelling sessions. Particularly often he portrayed his female partners. The Klewan Collection includes portraits of Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot and Jacqueline Roque. Among the portraits on display in the exhibition are those of the art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard and of the poets Max Jacob, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Éluard. Another frequent subject is the `bull-man´ Minotaur. In the 1930s, he became the centre of Picasso's private mythology, which is impressively demonstrated in his work through numerous drawings, prints and paintings up until the 1950s. The artist recognised his alter ego in this mythological creature with its power and an animalistic sensuality, which enabled him to express profound psychological and emotional aspects of his own personality.
For the sculptor Lothar Fischer, Pablo Picasso was a ‘gigantic shaper, a powerful creator of form’ who possessed ‘an incredible aesthetic intelligence’. We are grateful to Helmut Klewan for his generosity and trust which enabled us to honour Pablo Picasso with a special exhibition on the heels of the 50th anniversary of his death. Back in 2007 already, the Museum Lothar Fischer was pleased to present the exhibition ‘Alberto Giacometti. Klewan Collection’, and in 2008 a special exhibition of works by Maria Lassnig from his collection followed.
The current project is a cooperation with Gutshaus Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin and is accompanied by a catalogue (ed. Brigitte Hausmann, published by Wienand Verlag), available at the Museum for 20 €.
Parallel to the special exhibition on the ground floor, the anniversary show ‘Collecting! 20 Years of Museum Lothar Fischer’ is on display on the upper floor until 16 February 2025.
Collect!
20 Years Museum Lothar Fischer
23. June 2024 - 16. February 2025
Introduction: Dr. Pia Dornacher, Director
Photos of the Fischer couple's living quarters in Munich and Berlin are used to spatially explore their private and diverse collection. The lively presentation not only focuses on private collecting and public donations, but also shows how the Fischer's actions, in cooperation with the committed town of Neumarkt i.d.OPf., could lead to a museum project.