Agenda

At the age of just twenty, Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973) was already engaged in a search for new themes and forms of expression. One artistic revolution followed another, in a rapid succession of changing styles and visual worlds. The forthcoming exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler places the focus on the Blue and Rose periods (1901-1906), and on a central phase in Picasso’s work. It also sheds fresh light on the emergence, from 1907 onward, of Cubism, as an epochal new movement that was nevertheless rooted in the art of the preceding period.

The magic lantern or laterna magica was widely used as a projection device from the 17th to the 20th century. Initially the flame of a lamp, later an incandescent lamp, served as a light source, with which the magic lantern, or also the lantern of horror as precursor of the film projector, flickered colours, images and stories over the walls. Performances took place at fairs, in cafés, theatres, churches or at home. Travelling with the flying carpet from the Alps abroad, wild animals, natural dramas, fairy tales and hellish scenarios, the laterna magica immerses the audience in a symphony of images.

The exhibition uses modern projection and animation technology to bring the historical glass plate images to life. It is an invitation to stroll through glittering painting worlds and discover fascinating stories in the interplay of light and shadow. Collections from the Upper Engadine Cultural Archive, the Rhaetian Museum and selected international collections illustrate the development of projection technology and other optical games through to the latest 3D technology.

The exhibition presents the first retrospective of his work in Switzerland for over 30 years. The highlights among the more than 200 exhibits include the monumental ‘Prometheus Triptych’ (1950, Courtauld Gallery, London) and the ‘Mural for Alma Mahler’ (1954, University of Hamburg), which have never before been seen in Switzerland. Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980) is one of a generation of artists who retained their allegiance to figurative painting after the Second World War, even as abstract art was consolidating its predominance. The retrospective traces the motifs and motivations by a collection of 100 paintings and an equal number of works on paper, photographs and letters from all phases of his career.