CERCLE 9

Anyone interested in finding out about Picasso the person, both in his private life and in his role as an artist, now has the possibility to do so until the end of August by visiting Rome's Merulana Palace, where they will find a splen- did exhibition curated by Joan Abelló Juanpere and Josep Fèlix Bentz Oliver, both from the Reial Cercle Artistic de Barcelona, and Marco Ancora, entitled Picasso and photography in his ma- ture years (1951-1973) , organized by Coop Cultura and the 'Cercle', with the support of the Fondazione Cerasi, the Fondaziones Ludovico degli Uberti, the Spanish Embassy and Abertis, among PICASSO as man and artist in the photography of Quinn and Villers others. These are priceless graphic testimonies by two photogra- phers: Edward Quinn and André Villers, part of luxembour- geois Guy Ludovissy's collection and that have already been seen in Spain (A Coruña and Barcelona) and in China (Bei- jing and Shanghai), now come to Rome and reveal an unpub- lished and captivating Picasso, caught up in his private life and working in the golden age of his artistic creativity. We find him, as Juan Manuel Bonet describes in the exhibi- tion catalogue, printed by 'Cercle': 'ever in the center of the mirror gallery of his small theater in the world, wherethe photographers Villers and Quinn always played an important role' under different circumstances, as friends of the artist. Their beautiful photographs, according to Joan Abelló and Marco Ancora, allow us to discover a 'polyhedral, theatrical and killer Picasso, who challenges the photographic frame it- self by "cross-dressing", thus maintaining a central and mag- netic position, because Picasso always maintained an em- pathic relationship with photography', and he loved to play with masks and costumes, just like the Co media dell'Arte. 29 veronica ferretti  Veronica Ferretti. Docent, crític d'art i redactora per Artetoday.it Docente, crítica de arte y redactora para Artetoday.it Teacher, Art critic and specialized writer for Artetoday.it  Inauguració de l'exposició Inauguración de la exposición Opening of the exhibition Picasso e la fotografia negli anni della maturità (1951-1973) J. Fèlix Bentz amb Alfonso Dastis, ambaixador d'Espanya a Roma, i Joan Abelló J. Fèlix Bentz con Alfonso Dastis, embajador de España en Roma, y Joan Abelló J. Fèlix Bentz with Alfonso Dastis, Spanish Ambassador in Rome, and Joan Abelló