At this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition, Picasso Sculpture, at the Museum of Modern Art through February 7, 2016, the viewer is treated to wonderful insights into the artist’s work. It's an epic showing of 140 pieces, arranged chronologically, with the sculptures occupying the museum’s entire fourth floor. What becomes clear as you walk from gallery to gallery is that sculpting was an integral, if spasmodic, part of Picasso'slife. In 1902, at the age of twenty and still living in Barcelona, he created a clay model known as Seated Woman. Five years on, Picasso would have a mind-altering moment when he visited the collection of African and Oceanic sculptures at the Musée du Trocadero in Paris. That visit, which came at the suggestion of the great painter André Derain, stimulated the young Picasso to try his hand at wood carving.

Art in New YorkBarbara DonskyDecember 6, 2015Abby Aldridge Rockkefeller Sculpture Garden, Georges Braque, MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, Picasso, WORTH A TRIP Comments

Le Musée Picasso

A highlight of a trip to Paris last summer was a visit to the Musée Picasso. Having been undergoing years of renovation, modernization andexpansion, the museum reopened October 25, 2014. Recreating museums and giving them a whole new life is something the French do exceedingly well; indeed, they do it without compare. Turning up an hour before the opening time—Not until eleven, monsieur? —gave me an excuse to linger over coffee at a small café, Le Saint Gervais, down the block from the museum, at the corner of rue Vieille du Temple. Taking a sidewalk table, I did little more than sit 'n' sip, if keeping an eye on a couple catching the morning rays in a secluded park across the street. All of which made for a quintessentially Parisian moment for this flaneuse/bloggeuse.

Art in ParisBarbara DonskySeptember 13, 2015Dora Maar, Hotel Sale, le Douanier Rousseau, musee Picasso, New York Times, Picasso, Roberta Smith Comments