The works of Pablo Picasso are coming to the United States, but only for a limited time and just in one city.
The Frist Art Museum in Nashville will host an exhibition February 5 through May 2 on loan from the Musee National Picasso-Paris. The exhibition, Picasso. Figures, will feature 75 paintings, works on paper, and sculptures focused on the human figure.
Among the highlights are masterpieces Mother and Child, Portrait of Dora Maar, and Bathers.
“For many years, we have been looking for a Picasso show of this caliber, and we are thrilled that during our 20th anniversary we will be able to share this astonishing collection with our city and everyone who will travel to see it,” Susan H. Edwards, Frist Art Museum director and CEO, said in a statement.
The exhibit will feature works from different periods of Picasso’s career, as well as his different styles, from surrealism to neoclassicism to expressionism.
“Viewers will see how, as Picasso continuously deconstructed and then remade the body, he was also recasting the history of figuration as a combination of his own psychological view of humanity and observations about the disruptive nature of life in the 20th century,” said Mark Scala, chief curator for Frist Art Museum.
Information about tickets for the show will be released on January 18 on the museum’s website. Tickets will be limited and designated for specific times.
“We are delighted to work with the Musee National Picasso-Paris, the home of the world’s largest and most comprehensive public collection of works by the iconic artist, to bring Picasso. Figures to Nashville,” said Edwards.
The Nashville run is the only U.S. showing of the Picasso works, which rarely leave their permanent home in France.
“The selection of the Frist in Nashville as the only U.S. venue for this show is a wonderful testament to our city’s growing national and international stature as a cultural destination,” said Edwards.
The Picasso exhibit is just one of many special presentations planned at Frist in 2021. Works from Argentine artist Liliana Porter will run simultaneously with the Picasso exhibit. Later in the year, exhibitions of art from Kara Walker, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Bethany Collins are planned.
“The Frist Art Museum is a critical part of the city’s cultural landscape,” said Butch Spyridon, president and CEO of the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp. “Our city remains a prime destination for travelers from around the country and across the world, and with Nashville as the sole U.S. venue, we certainly anticipate that many people will see [Picasso. Figures] as an excellent reason to visit our city.”
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