Picasso's "Cute" Period

If Richmond gets much cooler, all our heads are going to explode. The good kind of explode, but explode nonetheless.

Yes, I'm talking about the Picasso exhibit that's opening at the VMFA Saturday to the public or Friday for members. And if you're not yet a member of the VMFA yet, all I can say is why in the world not?

You do know that members see special exhibits for free while everyone else will pay a $20 admission? That's fine for out-of-towners, but not for locals who should know better.

But about the show. In case you don't already know, it's eleven galleries of Picasso for a total of 176 works spanning his entire career. RVA is the only East Coast venue for this exhibition. You have just under 90 days to see the show.

The show is arranged chronologically, which allows the visitor to see how Picasso's style shifted throughout the years, based on world events (wars, movements), women (muses, wives and mistresses) and his interests (classical painting, photography).

When you walk into the Cubist gallery, it's clear how the man rewrote the language of modern art with his new style of non-representational figures. The collection of photographs is almost an exhibit within an exhibit and begs a long look for a peek behind the legend.

There are pictures of Picasso's sculpture grouped on the steps of his house, shots of him drawing with his children on the floor, him and friends out at a cafe and pictures of his masterpiece "Guernica" in progress. It's a riveting look at the life behind the paintings and sculptures.

My favorite of the 176 is a piece as un-Picasso like as any I've ever seen. "The Bathers" from 1918 in Biarritz has elongated figures in a picaresque seascape that is completely unlike the monumental figures in the nearby works.

"Oh, I love this!" a woman squealed when she saw it. "It's so cute!" I don't think cute is what Picasso was aiming for and I certainly didn't see cuteness.

On the other hand, it elicited a strong reaction and no doubt the artist would have been pleased with that. I spent ten minutes in front of it and went back twice and it still wasn't enough.

Which is just my way of saying that the crowds are almost as much a part of the exhibit as the art. Know that going in and it's easier to enjoy yourself around the inevitable.

So be sure to allow enough time to linger when something captures your eye, because it will happen. This is most definitely not a show to be rushed through. Also, it's a huge show, so pace yourself.

And when you're finished, head upstairs to see the other major show, Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria, for which we are the only U.S. stop. The crowds will be much smaller and the art every bit as significant; it just won't be Western art.

Then consider going next door to the Virginia Historical Society for An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia, the most compelling exhibit about this period as has ever been mounted in RVA.

It's about at that point that your head is likely to explode, but it will have been completely worth it.

Cementing RVA as #1 in Sculpture

Amongst all the hoopla about Picasso coming to town, a show every bit as magnificent is opening with not nearly the attention it deserves.

Dynasty and Divinity: Ife Art in Ancient Nigeria was last at the British Museum where it wowed critics and visitors alike.

They were the first to call it "a once in a lifetime exhibit," a sentiment echoed today by VMFA staff as African drummers beat their approval of the speakers' sentiments.

And is it ever.

The life-size portrait heads of kings and rulers are made of various metals, stone and terra cotta.

And while there may have been some idealizing done in the rendering of the heads, each is unique in depicting one particular person.

But it's not just the bigwigs who are represented.

"Figure of a Dwarf" from the 12th-15th century shows Ore, the hunter diety, who was known to beckon visitors from a distance with his laughter and spontaneous joy.

Now that's a diety I can get behind.

Another striking piece, "Figure of a Man with Elephantitis of the Scrotum," from the same period, was a realistic depiction of a dreaded disease that was unfortunately all too common at that time.

Most head portraits show the facial (and sometimes belly) striations popular in Ife culture.

Clothing denotes the subject's station in life.

But every piece of sculpture in this show is quietly eloquent in how well it describes its subject.

Coinciding with the opening of this magnificent exhibition is the reopening and expansion of the African galleries.

The entire 1970 wing of the VMFA is now devoted to the art of Africa.

And while VMFA has assembled one of the best collections of African art in the country, it is only now that it has a proper home.

The masks and textiles, including beadwork that is breathtaking, beg for a closer look.

Moving from case to case, I couldn't help but think how mind-blowing it is that the VMFA only began acquiring African art some thirty years ago.

With any luck, all the people who come to see Picasso will make the time to see Dynasty and Divinity.

Richmond has one of the top sculpture programs in the country and for the next three months, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this profoundly important show of some of the world's most important sculpture, rarely seen outside of Nigeria.

As I was making my way around the show, a VMFA employee came up to me and leaned in to ask, "Karen, do you write the ICGOAO blog?"

I admitted it was so.

"You're the only blog I follow. You're intrepid! I want to have your life," she told me.

I don't know about that.

She gets to go to work every day at the VMFA and I can't think of a more beautiful or inspiring place to call work.

But it was my first time being called intrepid.

And I have to admit that I kind of liked it.