Curator Susan Greenberg Fisher ’01 Ph.D. (right) and Gabriella Svenningsen admire Picasso’s Head of Fernande while setting up for the new exhibit.

Picasso’s Head of Fernande Debuts at the Yale University Art Gallery

Thanks to the generosity of John W. ’67 and Susan Jackson, visitors to the Yale University Art Gallery have a new opportunity to experience the work of 20th century master artist, Pablo Picasso. His painting, Head of Fernande, a promised gift from the Jackson’s private collection, is on display as part of the Gallery’s new exhibit, Picasso and the Allure of Language, curated by Susan Greenberg Fisher ’01 Ph.D., the Horace W. Goldsmith Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.

Head of Fernande, painted in 1906 by Pablo Picasso, is a promised gift of Susan and John Jackson ’67 and the Liana Foundation.
© 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso

Painted in 1906 during the artist’s Rose Period, Head of Fernande is now the Gallery’s earliest Picasso painting. Joined by other masterworks, including Mother and Child (First Steps) and Dog and Cock, it represents an important bridge to his later accomplishments in Cubism. “This particular portrait is really interesting because Picasso used Fernande’s face in several other pieces,” Fisher said. “It shows how he was constantly rethinking his work.”

The exhibit, which examines Picasso’s relationships with writers and the many ways in which language affected his work, opened on January 27 and continues through May 24. In the fall it will appear at the Nasher Museum at Duke University.

The Yale University Art Gallery has more than 185,000 works, many donated by alumni and friends like the Jacksons. These objects provide tangible connections to lessons learned through scholarly research and in the classroom.

“We are so pleased to have the painting as a part of the exhibit, but it will also play an important role in the classroom,” Fisher said. “Giving students an opportunity to engage with art is the best way to generate new ideas. There is something about the experience that gets students excited and truly inspires them.”

Photo credit: Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Reproduction, including downloading of Pablo Picasso works, is prohibited by copyright laws and international conventions without the express written permission of Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

(Feb. 11, 2009)