Through various works and documents rarely presented in France, the BnF and the Opéra national de Paris explore the different facets of Picasso’s relationship to dance. A major 20th century painter, Picasso produced a work of an extraordinary richness. A long time before his marriage with ballerina Olga Khokhlova, he was already interested in popular dance. Several of his drawings represent the worlds of circus and cabarets. We all know that Picasso designed the costumes and sets of the Ballets Russes in the years 1910-1920. However, who remembers that he worked with choreographer Serge Lifar for the revival of Icare in 1962 at the Opéra de Paris?

This exhibition is also an opportunity to discover how the various aspects of dance are represented in Picasso’s work, from Bacchantes and fauns represented in the mythology-inspired prints of the years 1940-1950 to eroticized dances of the late 1960s.

Based on the collections of the BnF and the Opéra national de Paris, the exhibition has also benefited from exceptional loans from the Musée national Picasso-Paris.Curators: Bérenger Hainaut and Inès Piovesan