CERCLE 6

27 Thanks to this close relationship, Quinn and Villers were able to obtain photographs of the more intimate and unknown side of Picasso. The series of photographs exhibited in China is part of the European private collection referred to previously. Some photos that emphasize the human quality of the artist, often shown as a monster in his personal relationships: "a series in which Picasso changes his cap countless times depending on the character he's representing, whether it's a bullfighter or a flamenco guitarist, just to mention some of the exposed snapshots. Villers repeats these same themes and adds some new ones, like the gunman from a Western, although it may be the im- age of the painter with his naked torso and wearing a simple paper cap, suggesting a certain madness, is the most illustra- tive piece of the great ability of Villers's shots to parody over Quinn's”. Some of these shots really are impressive and at- tracted the Chinese public than the artistic works themselves, with the room overwhelmed on the day of its inauguration. And there were details that justified it, such as "the joyful dis- position of the master to join in this type of game, presenting us with a Picasso that is relaxed and attached, familiar and very human. As a complement to the same series [...], Villers made anoth- er in which Picasso wore only his famous white underpants, which by the way, were always very well ironed, and was dressed as a sailor with objects from his same studio, in jok- ing attitude, adorned with a summery cap and holding a dec- orative pipe in his hand". In short, Picasso's show in China [...] —as explained by Pietro Folena, president of Metamorphosis— can be explained by referring to Picasso's famous phrase: "I needed twenty years to learn to paint as an artist and a whole life to learn to paint like a child". █ collaboration with Resourcevalley MC Co., Ltd. (Shanghai), Riverside Kai Ya Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. (Beijing), and with the Cercle itself, more specifically with its president, Josep Fèlix Bentz and myself. The photographic part of both exhibtions was represented by the collection of Guy Ludovi- si from Luxembourg, currently managed by the Cercle, with snapshots that were mostly authored by Edward Quinn and André Villers, which illustrate the last years of the master. Picasso in China; Works from Italian and European private col- lections . This was initially exhibited in Shanghai, fromOctober 28, 2015 to January 31, 2016, in the exhibition and museum space of the Global Harbor Commercial Center. From there the exhibition traveled to Beijing, to the Riverside Art Muse- um, recently opened and directed by Mona Sun Yue, where it opened from May 28 to August 8, 2016. A large monograph dedicated to Picasso in a country where, for both technical and political reasons, the figure of the great artist has been little present. Seventy-eight works from Ital- ian collectors and three works from other European collec- tions in a selection of works with the collaboration of Albani- an artist resident in Italy, Alfred Milot Mirashi. Composed of four sections, the exhibition hadmasterpieces of oil on canvas such as The Musketeer (1964) (chosen amongst all the pieces as the symbolic piece of the series) and Bust of a Wom (1954). Thirty-six graphic works and 40 gorgeous ceramics pieces that complemented them sought to describe both the artistic and personal life of the great master born in Spain, resident in France and universal for his art. The exhibition was completed thanks to the sixty-seven photo- graphs by Edward Quinn, an Irish photographer with whom Pi- casso had a close friendship between 1951 and 1973, the year of the painter's death. As for Villers, he met Picasso in 1953, at the age of twenty-three, and died during the holding of both exhibitions, on April 1, 2016. Exposició/Exposición/Exhibition Picasso a a Xina/Picasso en China/Picasso in China Foto/Photo Joan Abellò