Picasso's Works on Paper on View in Midtown Gallery

By ALISON MARTIN

Picasso's prolific body of work never stops intriguing art lovers even after his death half a century ago.  The latest show at Park Avenue's Forum Gallery Picasso on Paper, focuses on his drawings and paintings done at various points in his eight-decade career that included portraits, nude figures, and other character studies. Some of the works on display include those from Picasso's blue period that spanned the years 1901 through 1904. The works in this period came from a place of extreme sadness and financial hardships Picasso was facing during those years as a young artist. One of these works titled Le Repas frugal ("The Frugal Meal") features a gaunt couple sitting side by side at a table and have finished sharing a meal. What's left on the placemat in front of them is a plate, two glasses, and a bottle of wine. Their figures are elongated and they appear to be in a state of unhappiness perhaps contemplating how they are going to survive with the few resources they have.

Another work from this period on view is Portrait de Femme ("Portrait of a Woman") which is a solemn portraiture of a middle-aged woman whose sorrow is conveyed through the downtrodden expression on her face. The sadness and isolation are accentuated with the black and blue background colors. Picasso also had several muses, most notably Marie-Therese Walter who Picasso portrayed in various forms. For instance, Marie-Therese en Femme Torero, a whimsical portrait of the subject appearing to be in a dreamy state of mind caught in between the vigorous movements of a bull and horse. He also portrays Dora Maar, his second muse, in the expressive La Femme qui Pleure I ("The Crying Woman") and Jacqueline Roque, his last muse and second wife in the exquisite Portrait de Jacqueline en Carmen in which the subject is depicted as a Spanish woman wearing a mantilla.

Also included are two fantastical pieces titled La Minotauromarche ("Minotaur Battle") and Minotaure aveugle guide par Marie-Therese au pigeon dans une Nuit etoile ("Blind Minotaur guide by Marie-Therese au pigeon in a starry night"). Both of these works were created in the mid-1930s during periods of turbulence in Picasso's personal life and turbulence on a global scale. It was around this time that Picasso's wife Olga Khokhlova discovered his longtime affair with Marie-Therese Walter and also that Walter was pregnant with Picasso's child. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe and later the world, was facing its own crises with the rise of Nazi Germany.

At the Forum Gallery, 475 Park Ave., at 58th St., through Nov. 11. The gallery is open Mon.-Sat. from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.