Picasso
Matt and I had a couple of hours to kill in London yesterday after a meeting, so we grabbed the chance to see the Picasso exhibition, Challenging the Past, in the National Gallery.
The exhibition focuses on his variations of the Old Master’s classics including Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ (The Maids of Honour). This huge monochrome canvas is one of over 50 Picasso interpretations of this painting and his caricature of King Philip IV, when compared to his formal portraits, is hilarious.
Other favourites were the atmospheric (and pretty scary) Absinthe Drinker (1901) and the almost psychedelic Man with a Straw Hat and an Ice Cream Cone (1938).
But for me, the highlight of the day was the chance to see my favourite Picasso ‘in the flesh’ – the stunning 2 metre tall Large Bather, painted in 1921.
