A new exhibit, “Dialogues with Picasso, Season One,” opens at The City Arts Center in Round Rock on Nov. 6.
Pablo Picasso is one of the most recognizable names in the world of art. Even people who aren’t particularly familiar with, or interested in, the medium are likely to have heard of him at some point. He was a painter and sculptor from Spain who co-founded the Cubist movement in the early 1900s.
Cubism was a new artform that transformed normal, everyday pieces into something more abstract. Artists like Picasso would do this by analyzing their subjects, like a person or a piece of fruit, before breaking them up and rearranging them so different things ended up in different places. These 10 Most Famous works of Picasso’s will give you a good idea of what Cubism is all about.
Now that we’ve gotten that brief history lesson out of the way, let’s dive into the exciting news: An exhibition of Picasso’s works will be on display at a gallery in Round Rock from November 6 through April 20, and visitors can view the paintings for free. The collection, titled “Dialogues with Picasso, Season One,” will feature pieces on loan to the gallery from Málaga, Spain’s Museo Casa Natal. (Málaga is where Picasso grew up!).
The exhibition will feature two parts and is being billed as a cultural partnership between Spain, the US, and others, as it includes works from 20 artists hailing from Mexico, England, and Ecuador. Twenty-three of Picasso’s pieces will serve as the centerpoint of the collection. For the director of the City of Round Rock Arts and Culture, Scot Wilkinson, bringing this collaboration to the community is monumental.
In a press release, Wilkinson said, “Picasso is a name that changed the course of art, and having an exhibition connected to his legacy presented here demonstrates just how far Round Rock has come as a cultural destination. For me, this exhibition represents exactly what we envisioned for the City Arts Center—a place where our residents can experience art of international significance right here in the heart of Downtown Round Rock.”
He hopes the exhibition will serve as inspiration for young people in the area who haven’t had direct access to art “of this caliber before.” Wilkinson added, “We are not simply bringing an exhibition from Spain to Texas; we are creating experiences, expanding access to the arts, and continuing to establish Round Rock as a community where art, culture, and creativity truly belong.”
Gallery admission is free for all visitors
Admission to Round Rock’s upcoming “Dialogues with Picasso, Season One” exhibit is completely free for visitors of all ages. To see the collection for yourself, visit The City Arts Center located on 216 E. Main Street in town between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The gallery is also open on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
In terms of the collection itself, it wasn’t immediately clear which pieces of Pablo Picasso’s would be on loan from the Museo Casa Natal in Málaga. It’s estimated that he created roughly 20,000 (!) paintings, drawings, sculptures, and other works of art throughout his lifetime. Much of his art is displayed at public museums and galleries around the world, though some of it has been adopted into private collections as well.
And if you want to make the most of your trip to Round Rock’s City Arts Center, this link has a list of present and upcoming exhibitions.
