| ▼ Advanced Search Items in your shopping basket: 0 items
Print this page

Picasso: Challenging the Past

Click to see full image...
Image: Detail from Pablo Picasso, 'Seated Woman', 1920.
Museu Picasso, Paris (MP67).
© RMN / Jean-Gilles Berizzi / Succession Picasso / DACS 2008
Picasso: Challenging the Past
Exhibition Tickets
National Gallery
Book now!
Address
National Gallery
Trafalgar Square
London  WC2N 5DN
United Kingdom
Location Map
Booking from
Wed, 25th February 2009
Booking to
Sun, 7th June 2009
Terms & Conditions
Show me more...
• like this
• at this venue
• within walking distance
• around London
Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century, pitted himself against the greatest Masters of European painting in a life-long artistic dialogue. ‘Picasso: Challenging the Past’ explores the ways he took up the artistic concerns of the painters of the past and made audacious responses of his own.

Picasso was a passionate student of the grand tradition of European painting. El Greco, Velázquez and Goya were of crucial importance to him, as were Rembrandt, Delacroix, Ingres, Manet and Cézanne. All of these artists are represented by major paintings at the National Gallery.

Displaying some 60 works by the artist, this exhibition invites visitors to re-explore the National Gallery’s permanent collection in light of Picasso’s fascination with the Old Masters.

The exhibition is organised thematically, showing how Picasso repeatedly returned to the great subjects of the European painting tradition, analysing them as his personal style developed in myriad directions. Sections include self portraits, the Spanish tradition of male portraiture, the female nude, still life, and the seated female figure.

‘Picasso: Challenging the Past’ culminates in a display of the artist’s Variations where, late in life, Picasso makes direct reference to masterpieces such as Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’ and Manet’s ‘Déjeuner sur l’Herbe’, turning them into “something else entirely”.

This exhibition is organised in conjunction with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, the Musée National Picasso, the Musée du Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.


Travel

Nearest Underground: Charing Cross (Northern/Bakerloo lines)/Leicester Square (Northern/Piccadilly lines)
From Charing Cross take the Trafalgar Square exit. The National Gallery is on the north side of Trafalgar Square.
From Leicester Square take the Charing Cross Road west exit. Turn Left down Charing Cross Road. The National Gallery is on Trafalgar Square at the south end of Charing Cross Road.

Nearest Rail: Charing Cross
See above.

Parking: Whitcomb Street. Limited on-street parking nearby. Please note that parking in Central London can be expensive. Please use public transport if at all possible.

Access

Wheelchair Access: Ground floor entrance/exit through the Sainsbury Wing. Level access through Education Centre at rear of Gallery on Orange Street. The main Trafalgar Sq entrance is not recommended for those with mobility problems. All areas of the Gallery are accessible via lift.

Hearing Impaired: Induction loop.

Visitors with a Blue, Orange or White disabled parking badge can book a parking space at the rear of the National Gallery. Please contact the Gallery directly for more information.

The Gallery also runs special tours for the visually impaired. Please contact the Gallery directly for more information.

Concessions

Available to Seniors, Unemployed, Disabled people (accompanying escort free), members of the Art Fund (AF).