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'Faun' by Picasso

Barcelona’s Picasso Museum presents 'Mythologies'

The exhibition features a selection of the museum’s graphic artworks

Among the many themes that Picasso cultivated during his long career, mythology is one of the most prominent. In fact one of his first surviving drawings, dating from 1890, is entitled Hercules. Later on, when he had achieved fame, Picasso created a multitude of artworks in which characters and situations inspired by Greek and Roman mythology appear. Barcelona’s Picasso Museum has now brought together a selection of his mythology themed graphic work under the title Mythologies.

In the exhibition, we’ll have the chance to see the legends that make up ancient systems of belief, which were originally conceived of as factual stories and which now form the basis of a common culture shared by western peoples. Picasso approaches this canon in his own unique way, creating a narrative about the gods who are, at the same time, natural phenomena. He also depicts mythological heroes, who represent human virtues and weaknesses.

Among the works on display at this temporary exhibition, which will be open until 19 March 2017, are depictions of Hercules, Apollo, Calydon, Cephalus, Meleager, Nestor, Pollux, Poseidon, the Minotaur, Zeus and of other fantastic beings such as centaurs, fauns and muses. It’s an original way to depict the everyday events, challenges, pleasures, sufferings and tragedies: everything that makes us human and that links us to a tradition that stretches back over the millennia.

Publication date: Wednesday, 14 December 2016
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