March 26 - June 6, 2009
522 West 21st Street
This free show of more than a hundred of Picasso's later works (1962-72) is a revelation. After walking through the pieces -- small prints to very large canvases -- one can only marvel at the brilliance of his last years. The work comes in reserved earth tones and bright splashy colors but is always filled with whimsy. A character -- perhaps Picasso -- appears throughout with his little mustache and a glint in his eye. It is raunchy, it is fun, it is lecherous and it knocks you over. That's not to say there aren't some failures; he produced too much for everything to be top notch but the hits are home runs.
Walking through I kept grinning and laughing. I imagined this randy, mischievous old man, brush in hand having the time of his life as he threw paint on canvas after canvas saying "I'll show those bastards!" It is truly a must see.
Buste, 1970
Oil on canvas
39 1/2 x 32 inches (100 x 81 cm)
© 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS ), New York
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