'Picasso and the School of Paris' at Nassau County Museum of Art

Friday, 20 October 2006 13:40

Roslyn Harbor, NY - It's never happened before and it's likely never to happen again: The extraordinary cultural flowering in Paris between the World Wars — Picasso and Léger starred at each important art show opening, Hemingway and Fitzgerald were at the center of the community of expatriate writers, Cole Porter and his Linda provided the music and glamour while Josephine Baker added the naughtiness and fun.  Learning from each other, playing off each other, they were writing, painting, composing, photographing and performing in ways they never could have done before.  Together, they invented modernism.

Picasso and the School of Paris, at Nassau County Museum of Art from November 19 through February 4, examines Paris in the Jazz age, especially the artists who came from all over the world to become part of the School of Paris, to define the critical role that Paris played in the development of modernism.  The museum's chief curator, Franklin Hill Perrell, curates this original exhibition with the well-known art lecturer, Dr. Charles Riley, a professor at the City University of New York and the author of Paris in the Jazz Age.

The focus of Picasso and the School of Paris is the period between the wars, from 1919 to 1939, but the exhibition especially looks at Paris during the 20s when artists first flocked to the city and again in the 40s and 50s when they returned after the war.  This exploration draws heavily on works by Picasso, examining his role as a pivotal figure that other artists chose to either relate to or to reject.  Picasso and the School of Paris includes works by Picasso's contemporaries, artists such as Matisse, Vlaminck, Dufy, Braque, Chagall, Léger, Metznger, Lam, Matta and others of the avant-garde.  Included also are Expressionist works by Utrillo that will be the centerpiece of a section portraying how the Parisian art center shifted from Montmartre to Montparnasse during this period.  Other sections of the exhibition will include photography and decorative arts, especially furnishings and book art, to demonstrate the rich cultural mix of the time.

The School of Paris, especially from 1900 to 1950, encompassed an array of artistic movements which followed Impressionism and which were centered in Paris as artists were drawn from around the world.  Picasso, the giant among them, influenced virtually every artist in the first half of the 20th century, especially those who identified with the School of Paris.  They came to Paris because of its liberated conditions for living and working and to partake of the unparalleled opportunities the city offered to discuss and exhibit their work.  As a result, Paris was the true epicenter of innovative art during the first half of the 20th century.

The Museum has become a cultural resource bringing to Nassau County a range of visual experiences and quality art education programs previously unavailable in this suburban area.  Accordingly, we present the works of internationally acclaimed artists in the main Museum building.  The Museum's magnificent natural site on 145 acres, its formal gardens and fascinating history offer a setting unique for monumental outdoor sculpture, historic architecture, a collection of flora rare on Long Island, performances and first-rate fine art exhibitions.

Nassau County Museum of Art is located at One Museum Drive (just off Northern Boulevard, Route 25A, two traffic lights west of Glen Cove Rd.) in Roslyn Harbor.  Visit www.nassaumuseum.com