1917: Picasso, Guynemer and the Art of War at Centre Pompidou Metz

The exhibition '1917' at Centre Pompidou Metz, curated by Claire Garnier and Laurent Le Bon, exclusively features works dated 1917, creating unexpected correspondences. Centered on Picasso's curtain for the ballet 'Parade', it juxtaposes a self-portrait by Sir William Orpen with pastels of mutilated faces by Henry Tonks, André Mare's notebooks on theater and camouflage, avant-garde paintings alongside squadron emblems from fighter planes, and Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' surrounded by other assemblages including Jean-Jacques Lebel's collection of sculpted shell casings. The show also evokes T.E. Lawrence at the capture of Aqaba, the opening of the Dada gallery in Zurich, Apollinaire coining the term 'surrealism', and a legendary dinner at Larue with Proust, Morand, and Princess Soutzo. The essay by Jean-Yves Jouannais explores the concept of 'simultaneism' as discussed by Deleuze in relation to Gance, Joyce, Delaunay, and Léger, and examines the 'bruire' (rustling) of legend versus the noise of modern war, centering on aviator Georges Guynemer as a hero alongside Picasso. The exhibition runs from May 26 to September 24, 2012.