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French entrepreneur Francois Pinault is to open his second art exhibition at Palazzo Grassi in Venice on Saturday, combining a glimpse of his rich private collection and a homage to Picasso.
"Picasso, La Joie de Vivre, 1945-48" presents about 250 works by the painter-sculptor including about 100 on loan from the Picasso museum in Antibes, southern France, which is currently closed for renovation.
It was in that sun-drenched Mediterranean city that the master of cubism moved in 1946, at age 64, after being stuck for several years in Paris by the German occupation.
His newfound freedom and a new 20-something muse, Francoise Gilot, put "Picasso at peace, which gave a new impetus to his creativity," Jean-Louis Andral, the exhibition's commissioner and the chief curator at the Antibes museum, told AFP.
"His work then was outside of any ideology, a song of happiness, a song of the Mediterranean and a song of painting," Pierre Daix, writer and Picasso expert, told reporters at a press showing of the exhibition.
Still lifes of fish heads and sea urchins set the tone, as well as ceramic works typical of the region.
Picasso, ever prolific, was also fascinated by Mediterranean mythology, appearing in the form of centaurs, nymphs and fauns.
In the most emblematic painting of the "Antibes period" -- "La Joie de Vivre" -- such figures serenade a nude evoking Eve in the Garden of Eden.
"It seemed important to us to open a window on the art of the 20th century before returning to the Pinault collection (of contemporary art) in 2007," Palazzo Grassi general director Jean-Jacques Aillagon told AFP.
Lovers of contemporary art may be disappointed by the "post-pop" collection of about 40 installations, some of which already appeared in the last exhibition here, which closed on October 1.
In addition to works in the permanent collection by Jeff Koons, the show gives space to Americans Paul McCarthy and Ed Ruscha, as well as Young British Art, the group who emerged in Britain in the 1990s including Damien Hirst, the Chapman brothers Jake and Dinos, and Sarah Lucas.
"The Palazzo Grassi was never conceived as a showcase for Pinault's collection but as a space for temporary exhibitions of contemporary art, the art of the 20th century and the history of civilizations," Aillagon said.
The French entrepreneur, who bought Palazzo Grassi in April 2005 for some 29 million euros (37 million dollars), began compiling his collection of around 2,000 artworks more than 30 years ago.
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AFP 111314 GMT 11 06
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