New MFAH exhibit showcases Picasso, Matisse and Klee
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Paintings by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Henri Matisse. Photos: Courtesy of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's new exhibit showcases a selection of modern masterworks by renowned artists of the postwar European avant-garde.
Why it matters: On the heels of the Frida Kahlo exhibit closing, MFAH is bringing in another blockbuster exhibit — this time with about 100 works from Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti, Paul Cézanne and other 20th-century artists.
- The exhibit also pulls back the curtain on the relationship between the artists and the collectors who helped shape modern art history.
The big picture: The "Picasso-Klee-Matisse: Masterpieces From the Museum Berggruen" exhibit makes its U.S. debut at MFAH on May 20 and will run through Sept. 13 while the Museum Berggruen in Berlin undergoes renovations and its collection tours internationally.
- The exhibit features paintings, watercolors, drawings and sculptures collected by famed dealer and collector Heinz Berggruen between the 1940s and 1990s.
Zoom in: The curators placed the paintings and sculptures in conversation with one another, showing how artists borrowed ideas, techniques and inspiration across movements and played with their own styles.
- Visitors can follow Picasso's evolution into Cubism alongside the works of Georges Braque, who co-founded the movement with him.
- The exhibit also features striking portraits of Dora Maar — Picasso's muse, collaborator and an accomplished artist — alongside her own drawings and paintings, bringing a female artistic voice into the largely male-centered Berggruen collection, curators say.
Fun fact: The MFAH decided to paint some of the walls in the exhibit bold blue, red and yellow, inspired by midcentury European modernist architecture. Seeing the vivid colors behind some of the paintings creates an entirely different viewing experience and brightens many of the works.
Stunning stat: Curators say Houston hasn't seen this many Klee works gathered in one place in roughly three decades. An entire room is devoted to Klee, tracing how he explored color theory and abstraction.
What they're saying: "Among other things, it's an almost complete retrospective of the works of Pablo Picasso. It is a phenomenal array of works by Paul Klee, whose works are very rarely seen, and then beautiful paintings and drawings by Henri Matisse," MFAH director Gary Tinterow said during a preview Friday.
- "This exhibition is a chance to discover some less-familiar works by some of the greatest artists of the 20th century, reflecting the personal taste of a discerning collector," said Ann Dumas, consulting curator of European art at the MFAH.
The bottom line: Get up close. Notice the details, from Matisse's pinholes in his cutouts to how frames pair with the paintings and the fine details in the drawings.
If you go: Museum entry is $24.