An exhibition of original etchings, lithographs, aquatints and drawings by Pablo Picasso and other influential 20th-century artists, is on show at Abraham’s art gallery at the Gozitano complex in Xewkija until January 20.
The exhibition is being held alongside the presentation for the first time in Malta of the 2016 CoMediArt edition of Fernande Olivier’s publication Picasso and his friends.
Taking part in the exhibition, made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Modigliani Archives of Paris, are Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, Kees van Dongen and Fernande Olivier.
‘La belle Fernande’ is best known as Picasso’s model of whom Picasso painted over 60 portraits. She was the first woman who played a significant role in the artist’s life in Paris, as his lover and muse. But Fernande Olivier was also an artist. Her written accounts on her seven-year relationship with Picasso is exactly what is narrated in the publication: an intimate and unique view of one of the most important époques for art and culture.
The exhibition also features a documentary recorded by Anna Marceddu in 2016 in which Picasso’s daughter, Maya, and Gérard Dufaud, ‘La Belle Fernande’, the CoMediArt Association’s secretary general and president discuss and recount Picasso’s life during that period where momentous events unfolded in the environs of Montmartre and Montparnasse in Paris.
The exhibition, organised by GBK Malta Ltd and Abraham’s art gallery, is curated by Valerio Ballotta, assisted by project coordinator Christian Zammit.