Variations in Black and White

Susan Galassi, Senior Curator, The Frick Collection will discuss Picasso’s life-long practice of submitting well-loved masterpieces to analysis and re-creation in idioms that were distinctly his own. Some the artist interpreted solely in black and white drawings, while in longer suites he often moved between monochrome paintings and intense color, as well as between painting and drawing. What were the special qualities of the original that Picasso attempted to distill in black and white and how do painting and drawing compete and compare in the enterprise of artistic translation? The talk will also consider connections between the artist’s later work in variation and origins as a draftsman.