In Castres, the exhibition “Goya in the eye of Picasso” at the Goya museum brings together the works of the two Spanish masters

This year, the Goya Museum is interested in the links that united two artistic geniuses who marked the history of art: Francisco Goya and Pablo Picasso. Masters of Spanish painting such as El Greco, Velasquez and Goya have always been a great source of inspiration for Picasso. This exhibition reveals the artistic filiation and thought between the two men. Picasso thus shared with this 18th century painter, whom he admired, the same fascination for bullfighting, indignation at the cruelties of the world and freedom of creation.

The two painters worked in the same way, a few years apart, on a series devoted to bullfighting.. Goya, in 1815 and Picasso a little later, in 1957. “They have, in a very different way, treated this subject with a strong dramatic intensity with Goya, a lot of realism and a play on chiaroscuro, on volume and in a much lighter way with Picasso, in a much more refined style. “, explains Joëlle Arches, director and curator of the museum.

Three previously unseen pieces by Picasso

If Goya always developed the Spanish themes, Picasso will decide to him to lean there from the civil war in Spain and the second world war. Organized in three sequences in a scenography inviting dialogue, the exhibition “Goya in the eye of Picasso” presents 35 different works. Half of them were loaned for the occasion by the Picasso National Museum, the Louvre and the National Library of France.

Among the lithographs and paintings, three pieces are presented to the public for the first time. Color drawings by Picasso and taken from a film directed by Henri-George Clouzot. “Picasso was stationed on one side, Clouzot was filming on the other, and you could see the creation in progress through transparency. And that is something that greatly motivated these creators who met around this project.“, says Joëlle Arches.

Goya in the eye of Picasso is part of the international program of the “Picasso Celebration 1973-2023” which marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of the Spanish artist on April 8, 1973 The event brings together 47 exhibitions around the world, twelve of which are organized in France (Paris, Antibes, Biot, Lyon and Castres).

Goya in the eye of Picasso until October 1, 2023 at Goya museum in Castres