Theatre Picasso

Marking the centenary of one of Pablo Picasso’s most famous paintings, The Three Dancers, this exciting publication brings to life the artist’s performative persona and his interest in dance, music, and theater, alongside stunning reproductions of Picasso works

Filmmaker and artist Wu Tsang, whose practice is concerned with the act of performing, hidden histories, and marginalized figures, collaborates here with the author and researcher Enrique Fuenteblanca to tell the story of Pablo Picasso the “performer.” Along with other contributors, they cast light on his interest in dance, music, and theater, but also his highly performative persona as an artist, cultivating his own image and his contribution to the modernist cult of the individual artistic genius. They also explore his constant gaze toward popular, or “folk” performance, such as the circus, the corrida, flamenco dancers, the “othered” in society, and groups who use performance as an emancipatory tool. This beautifully designed book addresses head-on some of the complexities of Picasso’s life and work from a highly unusual and compelling perspective.