Madrid exhibition explores Picasso's iron sculpture collaboration with Julio González

The exhibition "Julio González e Pablo Picasso. La smaterializzazione della scultura" at Fundación Mapfre in Madrid, open until January 8, 2023, examines the little-explored aspect of Picasso's iron sculpture and his intimate relationship with fellow Catalan artist-craftsman Julio González. Organized in collaboration with the Musée Picasso Paris, the show was conceived by the late eminent Spanish art historian Tomás Llorens and completed by his son Boye. It focuses on the collaboration between 1928 and 1932, when Picasso sought González's technical help for a funerary monument to poet Apollinaire, resulting in the first version of "Femme au jardin," an ethereal white iron statue. The friendship dates back to early 1900s Barcelona; both later moved to Paris. González, trained as a goldsmith and ironworker, developed his aesthetic at Renault's factory, creating abstract works that influenced modern sculpture. The exhibition also features Picasso's Cubist works and González's pieces like "Harlequin's Head" (1930), "The Kiss" (1930), and "Woman Combing Her Hair" (1931) from Centre Pompidou. Both artists participated in the Spanish Pavilion at the 1937 Paris World's Fair, where Picasso's "Guernica" was shown. González died in 1942; the show opens with two Picasso works dedicated to him: "Bull's Head" (1942, oil on canvas from Pinacoteca di Brera) and a sculptural version made from a bicycle seat and handlebars (Museo de Málaga).