ART ABU DHABI: Art Fair - Manarat Al Saadiyat

On the occasion of its first participation in Art Abu Dhabi, held from 19 to 23 October, HELENE BAILLY MARCILHAC Gallery is proud and delighted to devote its presentation to one of the central figures of modern painting: Pablo Picasso.

A visionary and relentlessly experimental artist, Picasso profoundly reshaped the course of 20ᵗʰ-century art. Through his bold eye and uncompromising creative freedom, he redefined the relationship between the artwork and reality, opening the way to entirely new ways of seeing and representing the world.His work is rooted in a constant dialogue with the Old Masters in particular the great Spanish tradition of Velázquez, while also being nourished by culture and literature, notably the heroic and romantic figures made famous by Alexandre Dumas and his musketeers. For Picasso, this heritage becomes a space for invention: the past is continually revisited and transformed with wit, freedom and modernity.

This constellation of references finds a striking expression in the figure of the musketeer, which appears frequently in his late work: a character at once theatrical, melancholic and exuberant, often perceived as a kind of alter ego of the artist himself. At the heart of the gallery’s stand, a major oil on canvas depicting a musketeer will take centre stage in the presentation.

In dialogue with this painting, HELENE BAILLY MARCILHAC Gallery is showcasing a selection of works that reflects the breadth of Picasso’s creativity: oil paintings, works on paper, unique ceramics and editioned ceramics. Produced notably in Vallauris, these ceramics extend Picasso’s fascination with antiquity, mythology and Mediterranean imagery, which he reinterprets with a distinctly modern energy.Together, these works highlight the vitality, enduring relevance and richness of the cultural, literary and historical references that nourish the genius of Pablo Picasso.