What’s on at Europe’s Museums
October 27, 2003
You are what you keep! – the Picasso Archive
Picasso Museum, Paris Pablo Picasso left an archive behind that he himself described as “complete as possible.” In an exhibition entitled “Picasso’s Archive,” the Picasso Museum has put notes, letters, newspaper clippings and sketches on display which the Spanish painter (1881–1973) collected during his long, prolific life. “Picasso kept thousands of documents and photographs that record his professional development and are a faithful chronicle of his life,” according to the museum’s director. The extensive archive originates from different studios and apartments of the artist and is being exhibited on the 30th anniversary of his death.
“You are what you keep! – the Picasso Archive,” runs from Oct. 22 through Jan. 19. The museum is open Wednesday through Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Masters of Expressionism
Fondazione Antonio Mazzotta, Milan
The pictorial language of the Blue Rider, an loosely knit association of artists located in and around Munich, ranged from the metaphysical animal symbolism of Franz Marc to the colorful fantasies of August Macke to the magical world of Paul Klee. The group, made up primarily of German and Russian expressionists, named itself after a painting by Wassily Kandinsky. The exhibition brings together some 120 works from different collections and galleries and includes paintings, watercolors, drawings and graphics by Klee, Kirchner, Kandinsky, Macke, Picasso, and Delaunay, among others.
“The Blue Rider 1908 – 1914,” runs from Oct. 16 to Jan. 20. The exhibition is open Wednesday and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Closed on Monday.
Delft Blue in Black, Yellow and White
Het Prinsenhof, Delft, The Netherlands
Artistically painted ceramics from the Dutch city of Delft has made the term “Delft Blue” a household word. But blue is not the only color the Dutch masters of the craft used on their smooth surfaces. The ceramic works practically glow in black, white or yellow as well, as a new overview of art and functional art in clay at the Delft’s municipal museum Het Prinsenhof illustrates. The exhibition is being held in honor of the 350th birthday of the last remaining Delftware factory from the 17th century still producing handmade Delftware, the “Royal Factory: De Porceleyne Fles.” There are more than 300 displays from the facility’s own collection as well as from public and private collections in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Delft Blue in all its Colors: The Story of a National Symbol,” runs through June 27. The museum is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Up Close and Personal with the Neanderthals
Gallo Roman Museum, Tongeren, Belgium
An exhibition at the Gallo Roman Museum lets visitors get so close to the Neanderthals that they’re touching them, literally. The exhibit, which claims to be the “first large-scale overview of the early history of European culture,” shows more than two dozen life-like figures of Neanderthals along with models of mammoth and cave bears in situations typical of daily life. The museum not only allows viewers to touch the extremely realistic figures, but actually encourages hands-on participation. The show is based on archeological excavations made by a team from the University of Louvain at a site near Tongeren, where Neanderthals lived 100,000 years ago.
“Neanderthals in Europe,” runs from Oct. 25 through Sept. 19., 2004. The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Picasso in his Birthplace
Museo Picasso Málaga, Málaga, Spain
This year the city of Pablo Picasso’s birth is now home to a world-class museum in his honor. The Museo Picasso Málaga’s permanent collection is made up of more than 200 works by the artist from the private collections of Christine Ruiz-Picasso, the widow of Picasso’s son Paul, and their son, Bernard. They range from early academic studies to his late paintings in the 1970s. The 89,350-square-foot museum complex, ensconced between a Renaissance-style cathedral and a Roman theater, is an architectural mix of traditional Andalucian construction and modern building design. Besides the permanent collection, there is also a reading room, a projection room, a café and a garden.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Life in the Network
Museum Koenig, Bonn, Germany
After a four-year renovation, Bonn's Koenig Museum, a top address for natural history, reopened with a permanent exhibition exploring the relationship between man and nature. The highlight of "Our Blue Planet, Life in the Network," is an African Savannah in the hall's atrium, recreated with gazelles, antelope, lions, an elephant, two giraffes and other species from the museum's vast collection of exotic taxidermy. The flora and fauna exhibition also includes a tropical rainforest and will be expanded with sections dedicated to the North and South poles and the desert by the end of next year.
"Our Blue Planet, Life in the Network," runs indefinitely. The museum is open Tuesday and Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.