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Picasso: Fired with Passion

His art, his loves, his life, beyond the canvas.

This major international exhibition celebrated the creativity and inspiration of this iconic artist. It brought together over 100 objects from world-renowned collections and gave a fascinating insight into his extraordinary life and work.

Nude woman with necklace © 1962 Tate, London Through an array of significant works and personal material the exhibition explored Picasso’s creativity between 1947 and 1961 when he lived and worked in Vallauris and Cannes in the south of France.

Photographs, personal mementos, reflections and reminiscences offered an intimate glimpse into Picasso’s family life, and his friendships with contemporaries, such as the French artists Jean Cocteau and Georges Braque as well as acclaimed photographer Lee Miller and surrealist painter, poet, and historian Roland Penrose.

Chouette Mate earthenware vase © Edition Picasso Madoura NMS

The exhibition included ceramics, paintings, lithography and metalwork produced by Picasso during this period of his life. A highlight was a range of Picasso’s major ceramic works; the first showing of any significance in the UK for over a decade. Major paintings on loan from Tate Modern and other institutions, as well as rarely-seen material from private collections, were also included.

Buy the book

Our beautifully illustrated book Picasso: Fired with Passion, published to accompany this major exhibition, is still available. It features an array of photographs and works of art offering an insight into Picasso's busy, crowded lifestyle and the family, friends and artistic contemporaries who inspired and influenced his work from 1947 to 1961.