collages, papiers collés (pictures incorporating glued-down pieces of paper) and cardboard and sheet-metalconstructions (fig. 1). Using a reductive but flexible “signlanguage” invented in partnership with Braque, hemoved effortlessly between work in two and threedimensions, bridging the conventional gap betweenpainting and sculpture by exploring different forms ofrelief (from very low to very high), rather than working inthe round.

The construction technique permitted the invention of aradically new type of lightweight, planar sculpture –often enlivened by colour – in which empty space hasequal status with solid form. Woman and the other free-standing, screen-like sculptures of the early 1960s arederived from Picasso’s Cubist constructions and use asimilar, abstracted language. But in comparison thespace evoked is more architectural in character, some(like Woman and Head of a Woman. Profile) involvingangled façades pierced by apertures and a shady, semi-enclosed area at the back designed to contrast with thedominant, light-receiving front view.

Picasso continued to use Cubist constructive techniquesafter the First World War, initially as a spin-off fromdesigning sets for the Ballets Russes (Guitar and TableBefore a Window), and then during his collaboration in1928–32 with the Catalan metalworker Julio González.The fruitful reciprocity of their relationship is reflected inthree works by González himself (fig. 2), which, while

looking back to Picasso’s Cubism, herald his late cut andfolded sculptures. During the 1940s and early 1950s,Picasso occasionally used scrap metal in his assemblagesculptures (sculptures composed of miscellaneousmaterials), incorporating a ring and nails in Glass, forexample. But he made no further planar iron sculpturesuntil his encounter with Tobias Jellinek and SylvetteDavid in 1954. Sylvette was the subject not only ofnumerous paintings and drawings but also of cardboardmaquettes which Jellinek copied in sheet-metal, leavingPicasso to complete the sculpture by painting it in blackand white (fig. 3). This collaboration provided the modelfor Picasso’s longer association with Prejger and hisworkforce in the early 1960s.

Françoise Gilot (Head of a Woman), who lived withPicasso between 1946 and 1953, has described how theywatched spellbound while Matisse created his brilliantlycoloured papiers découpés (compositions made with cut-out paper). The two artists were united in their admirationof the spontaneity and simplification of child art and afterMatisse’s death a bereaved Picasso paid homage to hisold friend and rival by adapting themes and methodsparticularly associated with him. Matisse’s late cut-outs(fig. 4), where space and form have absolute equality andabstraction and figuration are held in balance, left theirmark on Picasso’s late sculptures, especially those, likeWoman, where the apertures are organic in shape andform a bold decorative composition.

Woman (cover), the centrepiece of this exhibition, is asheet-iron sculpture copied exactly from a papermaquette cut out by Picasso in January 1961. It belongsto an extended family of similar works with which hebrought to a climax and closed his profoundly innovativeand influential career as a sculptor. Picasso was notresponsible for making the sheet-iron versions himself.They were produced by artisans in a small factory inVallauris owned by his friend Lionel Prejger, who actedas go-between. Often, more than one version was madefrom the same prototype, with variations introduced by,for instance, leaving the iron unpainted so that it rusted,or painting it white all over, or modifying the angle ofthe limbs. Sometimes Picasso treated the metal likecanvas and decorated it more elaborately, as with thetwo relatively life-like portraits of his wife Jacqueline inthe exhibition (Head of a Woman (Jacqueline)).

In making the maquettes Picasso used a simplified formof the technique of the silhouette artist. He was drawingon some seventy years of personal experience, for hisown first paper silhouettes date back to his childhood.Relishing this playful activity and exploiting hisexceptional dexterity, Picasso continued to cut outfigures, animals, toy theatres, masks and so forth toentertain his family and friends for the rest of his life(Mask and Large Head of a Clown). The technique cameinto its own as a ground-breaking artistic process duringthe Cubist period (1912–14), when Picasso made his first

Fig. 2Julio GonzálezSharp Head [Sharp Mask] / Tête aiguë [Masque aigu]1930 (cast by Valsuani, 1960)Bronze, 35 x 16.5 x 11 cm

Gift of Roberta González, 1964. Centre Pompidou, Paris.

Musée national d’art moderne / Centre de création industrielle

Fig. 3Pablo PicassoSylvette, Vallauris, 1954Cut and folded sheet-metal, painted on both sides

69.9 x 47 x 0.076 cm

Private collection. Courtesy Fondation H. Looser, Zurich

Fig. 1Pablo PicassoHead / Tête, Céret, Spring 1913Pasted paper, charcoal and pencil on cardboard, 43.5 x 33 cm

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. Purchased with help

from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and The Art Fund, 1995

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Picasso’s sculpture was never made in isolation from hiswork in other media. Sometimes his paintings project sostrong an illusion of three-dimensionality that they mayfairly be described as virtual sculptures (Still Life withGuitar). Sometimes they represent his fantasies forgravity-defying monuments on an enormous scale(Monument: Head of a Woman) – fantasies partiallyrealized towards the end of his life when the Norwegiansculptor Carl Nesjar made giant enlargements inconcrete of sheet-iron sculptures dating from the“Sylvette period” onwards. Sometimes – notably in theearly 1960s – the symbiotic relationship betweenPicasso’s painting and sculpture was such that drawing adistinction between the two seems pointless (fig. 5).Picasso made his own position clear in a radio interviewbroadcast just after his eightieth birthday (25 October1961). Asked what he was making at that moment, hedescribed his sheet-iron sculptures. Asked whether hewas also painting, he replied: “Of course, and in anycase it’s the same thing, exactly the same thing.”

Cover: Pablo Picasso. Woman / Femme, Cannes, 1961Cut, folded and painted sheet metal (base not painted), 31 x 19.6 x 11.7 cm

Museo Picasso Málaga. Gift of Christine Ruiz-Picasso

Fig. 4Henri MatisseVenus, 1952Gouache on cut and pasted paper mounted on canvas

101.2 x 76.5 cm

National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alisa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1973

OPENING HOURSTuesday to Thursday, 10 am to 8 pmFridays to Saturdays, 10 am to 9 pmSundays and public holidays, 10 am to 8 pm24 and 31 December, 10 am to 3 pm

Closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January

ADMISSION FEESPermanent collection: 6.00 eurosTemporary exhibition: 4.50 eurosCombined ticket: 8.00 euros

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Lecture Series, Picasso’s Late Sculpture, every Thursday from 14 May until 11 June at 8.00 pm. MPM Auditorium

The guided visits to the exhibition, Charlas en el Museo, given in Spanish, every Thursday at 6.00 pm.

For other guided visits, please contact: educacion@mpicassom.org

Catalogue of the exhibition (in Spanish and English) availableat the MPM Bookstore. Orders: lalibreria@mpicassom.org

Palacio de BuenavistaC/ San Agustín, 829015 MálagaGeneral information: (34) 902 44 33 77Switchboard: (34) 952 12 76 00info@museopicassomalaga.orgwww.museopicassomalaga.org

© Of the text: Elizabeth Cowling | © VEGAP, 2009, Succession Picasso, Paris© Succession H. Matisse / VEGAP / 2009 | © Julio González, VEGAP, Málaga 2009

Cover: © Museo Picasso Málaga. Fotografía: Luis Asín | Fig. 1: © Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art | Fig. 2: © Photo CNAC / MNAM, Dist. RMN / Philippe MigeatFig. 3: © Foundation H. Looser | Fig. 4: © Alisa Mellon Bruce Fund, Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington

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Gallery 12. Working with Picasso. Photographs by Carl Nesjarcomprises a series of images taken by the Norwegian sculptorof his monumental pieces based on works by Pablo Picasso.This selection is intended to complement the exhibitionPicasso’s Late Sculpture: Woman. The Collection in Context.

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