Picasso's art collection unveiled in Toronto display
Nearly 150 masterpieces from master modernist Pablo Picasso's personal collection are being prepped for a vast exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.
When the Musée National Picasso in Paris — where the collection is usually on display — needed to close temporarily for renovations, it decided to send its treasured artwork on a rare, worldwide road trip.
The result is Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris.
The extensive show covers nearly every phase of the artist's long, diverse career and features notable pieces he saved for himself and for his family, including his studies for the iconic Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Ladies of Avignon), his Second World War-era sculptures and his famed self-portrait The Matador, which he painted three years prior to his death in 1973.
"Picasso's artistry was constantly evolving, and this particular collection offers our members and visitors a rare opportunity to experience the entire trajectory of his artistic achievement," AGO director Matthew Teitelbaum said in a statement.
The Toronto venue is the sole Canadian stop for the exhibit.
In conjunction with the Picasso display, AGO staffers have planned a host of related programming, including activities for children and a lecture by art historian and Picasso's granddaughter Diana Widmaier-Picasso.
Picasso: Masterpieces from the Musée National Picasso, Paris opens to the public on May 1 and runs until Aug. 26.
