Q&A with Pablo Picasso’s Grandson

Last week, on a muggy day that felt like last year’s summer, I left my office a little after 3 in the afternoon to scurry down to the Sofitel Hotel which is located a few steps away from the heart of the city, a place otherwise known as Times Square. It was there that I was to preview, and later on, interview the grandson of Pablo Picasso, Olivier Widmaier Picasso. Picasso has a grandson who is also an artist? No, not quite. Although he understandably have a real flair for exquisite art, the 54-year-old Parisian, who was trained as a lawyer, is the author of many books about his celebrated grandfather. He is also a journalist, who is getting ready to release a documentary on Picasso later this year. “Revealed” a new photography exhibition that is currently on display at the lobby of Sofitel New York, is curated by Oliver Widmaier Picasso. All 30 individual photographs were chosen by him, from the archives of Paris March, a weekly french newspaper.  These intimate snapshots offer a unique window into the lives of blue chip artists like Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, and of course, Pablo Picasso.

High End Weekly™: First of all, congratulations on this exhibition. In “Revealed” one recognized a solid group of global artists, that I myself have admired for decades. How did you come to the initial idea or realization of selecting them?

Olivier Widmaier Picasso: Softel and Paris March came to me and offered this unique opportunity to create an energetic ensemble in a very candid manner. Some of these artists are seen in the privacy of their living rooms, others are seen on the streets. The idea was to create an exhibit which portrait those solitary artists, at times, playing with the camera. Some of the artists are a little shy, a little passive even. Other artists like Pablo Picasso, Jeff Koons, Salvador Dali are quite the opposite. Looking at the photographs, it become clear that they are playing with the camera, they found the  photographers a bit amusing. One gets the sense that they are showing the photographers what they want them to see. They want to project that they are in control of the situation. Are they revealing themselves? You be the judge.

HEW: Have these pictures been shown to the public before?

OWP: Of course, they were originally published in Paris Match, but what’s unique about this exhibit is that they have never been shown together in the way that you see them here. Working with my team, it was important to have the juxtaposition of the images right. We wanted to show all the artists together in a way that make the entire tableau “complete”. There are elements of surprise here and there. And at other times, you can easily see the relationship that they have with each other.

HEW:  Is there a story behind this curated group of photographs? As the storyteller that you are, was that your intention when you were putting it all together?

OWP: I was ready to be discreet behind the power of each picture. I felt quite honored really when I was asked to put the exhibit together. At the same time, my team and I did not want to betray the situation. When you have great artists like Marc Chagall, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Keith Haring as the subjects, when putting it all together, I felt that somehow, I was part of each of their history. It was a proud moment for me.

OWP: You have to be a storyteller. Having a background in television, I’m very aware of the fact that people love a good story. And so in this case, I was thinking we have to make a novel (Smile). Because you know, these artists were very important artists at the beginning of the 20th century, and right until our time.

Think about it. It’s quite extraordinary knowing that there is over 110 years of art between these artists. 110 years! So surely they all have a tremendous story to tell. There are some happy stories, there are some sad stories as well. When you think about Keith Haring… His story is very touching. Here we see him in the photograph as a simple guy, casually dressed. Perhaps he did not realized it at the time how his legacy, his artwork was going to morph to a high magnitude. His story symbolizes a link to AIDS, especially during the 1980s. Keith Haring was so close to the public, he was such a popular artist, even though he had a short career.

OWP: It’s a big question, because today in the art market where you have all those auction sales, you have the urgency from new clients. The point is, most people want to buy a “record”. What do I mean by that? Most people don’t want to buy the painting. They want to buy the most expensive painting available for that particular artist, the one which will hold the highest record price. And on the other side, we know that the art world is made of artists, experts, historians, curators, specialists, journalists that are maintaining the art world, which is also a “scientific world”. Therefore, money is the point, but you have to remind yourself that there is emotion. Humans have emotions. We need more than a car, a plane, a painting. Of course, like I said before, you have people who are looking at the “record”, but you also have people who are looking for emotion – at any price. Even if it is a small price, for a small drawing. Having said all that, I’m quite optimistic. Quite optimistic about the art world.