Picasso - Rodin

The Musée Rodin and the Musée National Picasso-Paris are joining forces for the first time to present the “Picasso-Rodin” landmark exhibition

This unprecedented partnership between two major single-artist museums casts a new light on two creative geniuses who paved the way for modernity in art. Their masterpieces are presented simultaneously in the two historic buildings that house these national museums.

The exhibition proposes a new comparative view of the works of Rodin (1840-1917) and Picasso (1881-1973), who each had a profound and lasting impact on the art of their time and that of the generations to come. The exhibition does not aim to show what Picasso borrowed from Rodin, but rather to explore how elements of Rodin’s oeuvre merged with periods in Picasso’s artistic career.

This comparative view of the two great artists takes a different form at each venue:  the Musée Rodin looks at the crisis of representation in the early 20th century, while the Musée Picasso focuses on their creative processes. At different times and in different contexts, Rodin and Picasso both experienced major historical upheavals that could provide a clue to their similarities.

Each in his own way, they invented a new form of representation – expressionist in Rodin’s case and cubist in Picasso’s. They both preferred to work in their studios, experimenting with forms and materials and developing innovative approaches involving serial projects, fragmentation, assemblage and détournement. Both artists were constantly evolving in their exploration of the ever-changing world around them.

This two-part exhibition, featuring over 500 works, paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, archival documents and photographs, offers a new take on the intensely creative careers of two pioneering artists.

At the heart of the "Picasso-Rodin" exhibition

Interview with the curators of the "Picasso-Rodin" exhibition Véronique Mattiussi, head of the research department and scientific director of the historical collection at the Musée Rodin, and Virginie Perdrisot-Cassan, heritage curator, responsible for Giacometti sculptures, ceramics and furniture at the Musée national Picasso-Paris. What is the relationship between the two artists and creation? Have they ever met? And what are their common concerns? These are the questions that the two curators answer in a cross-reading of the works of Rodin (1840-1917) and Picasso (1881-1973).

Exhibition Curators

Catherine Chevillot, Chief Curator, Director of the Musée Rodin

Véronique Mattiussi, Head of Research, Historical Archive Manager, Musée Rodin

Virginie Perdrisot-Cassan, Curator of Sculpture, Ceramics and Giacometti Furniture, Musée National Picasso-Paris

Exhibition Design

Nathalie Crinière Agency : Anne Lebas, Aude Weinich