Picasso
This rare and historic catalogue was published in 1932 for Pablo Picasso’s first retrospective, held at Galeries Georges Petit, Paris. This landmark exhibition was installed by the artist himself, with a dense hanging that juxtaposed more than two hundred works selected by the artist, ranging from 1900 through 1932, rather than attempting to prove an academic thesis or organize a strictly chronological presentation. The exhibition would travel to Kunsthaus Zürich later that year. Picasso’s approach inspired the 2025 exhibition Picasso: Tête-a-tête at Gagosian, New York, which brought together paintings, sculptures, and drawings from different periods by the protean artist—including one canvas from the Georges Petit exhibition, Compotier et guitare (1932)—encouraging viewers to discover new personal connections and continuities.
Housed in a clamshell box, the softcover catalogue features Picasso’s signature embossed on its cover and the exhibited works, presented in chronological order, with thirty-four black-and-white illustrations and a list of lenders inside. It includes an introduction by the gallery’s proprietors, Ètienne Bignou and brothers Jossé and Gaston Bernheim-Jeune, as well as documentation compiled by Charles Vrancken.
Publisher: Galeries Georges Petit, Paris
Publication date: 1932
Contributors: Jossé Bernheim-Jeune, Gaston Bernheim-Jeune, Ètienne Bignou, Charles Vrancken
Format: Softcover
Dimensions: 9 × 11 1/8 inches (22.8 × 28.2 cm)
Pages: 140
Language: French
