Pablo Picasso: A spectacular museum about his life and muses is being prepared in Prague

Artistically active was Pablo Picasso, who is considered one of the founders of Cubismfrom the 1890s until his death in 1973. He created an abundance of paintings, drawings, etchings and everything possible that can be created with a pencil, brush or spatula – even with a camera. But beware!

The largest collection

“In addition to being a painter, Picasso was also a sculptor,” businessman and patron Vladimír Cnota, who intends to open a Picasso exhibition in Prague, told Bleska. Not only paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, but also various objects from Picasso’s estate, the passionate art collector has laboriously succeeded over the years accumulate.

“He was like that vagrant,” says the owner of the collection with a good-natured smile. “He often collected things that he saw by chance on the street. A bicycle, vases, or an old lute that someone just threw out on the street. I got a chance to buy it some time ago. I didn’t hesitate,” he shrugs. Similarly, he acquired other objects that surrounded him during his lifetime and thus completed something that the artist could call home with intimate confidence.

Picasso became Vladimir Cnota’s unwavering passion at the beginning of the century. “Until then, I was looking more for Andy Warholovi, but when I attended my first Picasso auction sometime in 2001, I started focusing on his work. Back then it cost me 2,000 marks,” he admits. Today, it has approximately 350 works in its collection, which is the largest in terms of scope in the entire republic and one of the largest in Central Europewhile some would thousands of marks could only seem “petty”.

He would like to present to visitors not only the objects he has included in his collection, but also rarities on loan from other collectors or institutions. Some could travel to the Czech Republic from far away Qatar, for Virtue is among other things president of the Czech-Qatar Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, exposure is also taken into account of the Dove of Peace model that Picasso planned to design for the Cuban nation – but fate managed to end his life path before he could fulfill this promise.

„The distinguished Czech artist Jiří George Dokoupil then accepted his promise, who worked at the Picasso Foundation in Malaga,” points out Cnota. “The dove model should not only be a key exhibit in the planned expositionbut also symbolizes connection between Czech art and international artistic eventsserving as a bridge between cultures, history and future generations of artists and the art-loving public.”

“And because the exhibition will not only be about the work of Pablo Picasso, but also about the fact that people can get to know him primarily as a person who lived unique life it will be called Picasso life,” outlines the collector.

Women, animals, devils and… women

Although Picasso is known primarily for his Cubist work, he alternated between a number of styles and motifs during his creative period. “Not many people know that he loved animals. For example, his paintings of animals with one stroke of the brush are interesting,” notes the owner of the collection, adding that when he had a pet, for example sova, she too found herself on canvas or paper according to the author’s creative ideas.

“But I am most proud of the devil Picasso had one schizophrenic period, when he dealt with devils and painted them. He didn’t paint that many, maybe four or five. It is therefore a complete matter rarity, because there are very few originals“, Virtue admits. It is one of these world rarities that will also have its supreme representation at the exhibition. “At one time, he even added a drawing of a devil to his signature,” he mentions interestingly.

Picasso was too I am intimately familiar with my special weakness for the fairer sex. It was precisely women who defined his success in the artistic field. The painting of the Miss from Avignon, where he depicted the deformed faces of the women from the screamed house with the strokes of his brush, is considered a key milestone in the emergence of Cubism. “It’s no exaggeration to say that Picasso’s love of art was matched only by his love of women,” thinks Vladimír Cnota.

Cruelty and generosity

Therefore, it would not be an exhibition about Picasso’s work and life, if he was not represented in large numbers fascination with women. Be his passion often bordered on cruelty. “Picasso openly cheated on his wives with a harem of mistresses. He was able extreme generosity and cruelty towards his ladies,” points out Cnota. After all, the painter himself speaks best about his relationship with the fairer sex: “For me, there are only two types of women – goddesses and doormats“, he let himself be heard.

“Picasso was relatively small in stature, but all the more attractive in personality. As soon as he got bored with women, he dumped them, cruelly broke their hearts, and found another muse. And to that the suffering of ex-lovers and ex-wives it wasn’t enough, he forced them to meet each other,” he shrugs.

“One of the ways he tortured his mistresses was deny them climax during sex.” The imaginary bitter “reward” for the master’s indiscriminate behavior was anonymous to a certain extent, but lifelong. glory. They often found their faces and figures on the artist’s paintings, which are still being auctioned for billions of crowns!

An epochal event

While the content of the unique exhibition is obvious, what is still unclear is where the visitors will go to find it. The final decision on which building or institution Picasso’s creations will be displayed in front of the public has not yet been made. “We want to find a space that will underline the uniqueness of the collection and provide visitors with an unrepeatable experience,” Virtue prefaced.

“The space must also be adequate in size for the placement of future additions to the collection.” This is because it grows every year with additional exhibits. “A place somewhere in the center of Prague would be ideal,” dreams the collector, saying that he would like to open the exhibition in the second half of this year. “We believe that the opening of the Prague Picasso Museum will become a significant impetus for the Czech cultural scene and significantly will contribute to the development of tourism in the capital city of Prague.“

And how does the placement look so far? “We have a few potential locations lined up, but I’m open to any interesting offerswhich would help make Prague’s cultural scene more attractive with an extraordinary exhibition about the genius whose the name is synonymous with art,” concludes Virtue

You know that…

… as one of the founders of Cubism had Pablo Picasso significant influence on Czech art? Nowhere else in the world was cubism reflected in architecture, as it was in the Czech Republicwhere a number of significant buildings were created.