AN EXHIBITION of Pablo Picasso's works would normally lead visitors to expect a hall filled with paintings similar to Guernika, but the forthcoming display at the artist's eponymous Barcelona museum features the results of one of his other many creative talents: Jewellery.
Part of a collection of artists' jewellery at Valencia's IVAM museum in 2012, titled ‘From Picasso to Jeff Koons’ (photo: IVAM/Txema Rodríguez)
In practice, the Málaga-born surrealist painter had many other artistic hats – sculpture, engraving, ceramic pottery, household decoration and even poetry – but his skills as a jewellery-maker are largely unknown.
Neither are his necklaces and other hand-crafted pieces as outlandish as his most famous paintings – they are largely exquisite and very elegant.
Necklace made for Françoise Gilot (photo: Heirs of Pablo Picasso)
They include necklaces made from shells from Juan les Pins beach in 1937 for Dora Maar, stamped gold and silver from the 1960s, through to ceramic beads and pendants crafted in the Madoura workshop.
In fact, Dora Maar's shell necklace is thought to be the precursor of this type of costume jewellery, which became popular in subsequent decades and is still worn today.
Given that he made jewellery items for people in his closest circle, this form of craft encompasses some of Picasso's most personal artistic expression – especially as he did not start to create them specifically for sale until the 1960s, more than 20 years after he started making them.
As well as his better-known muses such as Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot and Jacquéline Rocque, Picasso made jewellery for friends, his children, and children of friends.
The exhibition at the Barcelona Picasso Museum includes pieces he put together for his kids Claude, Paloma, and Maya, and also for Sonia Mossey and Angela Rosengart, as seen in photos by Jean Nocenti, Dora Maar herself, Robert Capa, André Villers and Edward Quinn.
Another display from the Picasso-to-Koons exhibition in 2012 (photo: IVAM)
When painting portraits of people he knew, Picasso would often show them wearing jewellery he had made for and gifted to them.
The display will show not just the jewellery itself, but also photos, sketches and paintings in which they feature.
Some of them are included in the Clo Fleiss collection of jewellery made by artists, also exhibited, and which includes pieces by André Derain, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Lucio Fontana and Louise Bourgeois.
Paloma Picasso is a designer herself whose jewellery ranges are very sought-after in high-street boutiques and department stores.
The Picasso jewellery exhibition is on from May 20 to September 26.
Picasso's pieces were already part of a display at the Valencia Modern Art Institute (IVAM) in late 2012, along with those of other artists such as Calder, Braque, Giacometti, Derain, Rauschenberg, Max Ernst and Jeff Koons – a selection of which is seen above.
