April 8, 2023 will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. The French and Spanish authorities have hoped that a large-scale transnational event could be organized during 2023 to celebrate his work and artistic heritage in France, Spain and abroad.
With this in mind, and in order to coordinate the 1973-2023 Picasso Celebration, the French and Spanish authorities, as they committed to do at the XXVI Franco-Spanish Summit in Montauban (15 March 2021), have set up a dedicated Bilateral Commission, composed of representatives of the ministries of culture and foreign affairs of both countries and qualified personalities: Cécile Debray the president of the National Museum Picasso Paris, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, the president of the Almine Foundation and Bernard Ruiz-Picasso for Art, Coordinator of the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 for France, and M . José Guirao, former Minister, coordinator of the Picasso Celebration for Spain.
This binational commission met for the first time on 28 February 2022 to begin work between the two governments and general coordination with the cultural institutions involved in the organization of events related to this celebration.
The Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 will be organized around forty exhibitions and events that will be held mainly in Europe and North America. It will also be an opportunity to establish a historiographic state of the approaches of Picasso’s work.
This binational commission will highlight the figure of Picasso as a universal and European artist, who embodies the founding principles of Europe, composed of democratic states, defenders of human rights and freedom of expression. His work, Guernica, has become the greatest international anti-war symbol in our modern history. Today, Picasso’s legacy and his commitment to the cause of peace are a great reference for European citizens.
The Ministers of Culture and Foreign Affairs of the two countries welcome the holding of this first meeting of the bilateral commission and the great involvement of all parties involved in this project, which will make it possible to make the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023 one of the major European and international cultural events of the coming years.