Picasso Cut Papers

The Hammer Museum at UCLA presents Picasso Cut Papers, an exhibition about an important yet little-known aspect of the practice of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). This exhibition features some of Picasso’s most whimsical and intriguing works made on paper and in paper, alongside a select group of sculptures in sheet metal. Cut papers were created as independent works of art, as exploratory pieces in relation to works in other mediums, as models for Picasso’s fabricators, and as gifts or games for family and friends. Although the artist rarely sold or exhibited them during his lifetime, he signed, dated, and archived them just as he did his works in other mediums. Many examples have been stored flat or disassembled in portfolios until now and will regain their original three-dimensional forms when presented in the exhibition. This survey spans Picasso’s entire career, from his first cut papers, made in 1890, at nine years of age, through the 1960s, with works he made while in his eighties. Picasso Cut Papers will be on view from October 1 to December 31, 2022.

There are approximately 100 works in the exhibition, many of which have never before been displayed in public, with loans coming principally from the Fundación Almine y Bernard Ruiz-Picasso para el Arte, the Picasso estate, and the Musée national Picasso in Paris. Major loans have also been granted by the Museu Picasso in Barcelona; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; and the collection of Gail and Tony Ganz.

Picasso played with the versatility of paper and its ability to be folded and molded, attempting to create volume where it is not otherwise perceived. The cut papers embody the artist’s ongoing experiments in breaking down the traditional barriers between drawing, painting, and sculpture, extending into the fields of photography, moving images, and live performance. Picasso Cut Papers is organized loosely chronologically, according to the following sections: Silhouettes; Contours; Cut, Pinned, and Pasted Papers; Torn and Perforated Papers; Shadow Papers; Sculpted Papers; Divertissements; Masks; Diurnes.

Catalogue
The first publication to focus solely on Picasso’s cut papers, this book features many works reproduced for the first time with newly commissioned photography, alongside new scholarship on a little-known aspect of one of the 20th century’s most pivotal practices. It contributes to the ongoing discourse surrounding innovation and abstraction at the roots of modern art. Also featured is a photo section that surveys Picasso’s engagement with cut paper and sculpture over the decades and documents his practice of cutting paper, both in and out of the studio, with family, friends, and collaborators. The book features a text by Allegra Pesenti and is edited by Cynthia Burlingham and Pesenti. It is published by DelMonico Books • D.A.P and designed by Miko McGinty and Rita Jules. Picasso Cut Papers will be available for purchase online at store.hammer.ucla.edu ($50) and in-person at the Hammer Store.

Credits
Picasso Cut Papers is organized by Cynthia Burlingham, deputy director, curatorial affairs, and Allegra Pesenti, independent curator, former associate director and senior curator, Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts.

The exhibition is organized with the exceptional support of the Musée national Picasso–Paris.

Lead funding for Picasso Cut Papers is provided by Alice and Nahum Lainer, with major support from the Steinhauser Greenberg Exhibition Fund and the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne. The exhibition is also supported by Lisette Ackerberg, Gagosian, Nancy Lainer, Deanie and Jay Stein, Maria Hummer-Tuttle and Robert Holmes Tuttle, and an anonymous donor. Additional support is provided by the John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation and Lee Ramer.