Olga Picasso: First Wife of Cubist Master Celebrated in Málaga Exhibition

The Museo Picasso Málaga opens its 2019 artistic program with a major exhibition exploring the relationship between Pablo Picasso and his first wife, Olga Khokhlova. Born in 1891 in Ukraine, Khokhlova was a Russian ballerina with the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev. The show features approximately 350 objects—paintings, works on paper, photographs, letters, documents, and films—discovered in her travel trunk. The materials span from their first meeting in Rome in 1917, when Picasso designed sets and costumes for the ballet Parade, through the birth of their son Paul, to their separation in 1935 (though they remained married until Olga's death in Cannes in 1955). The exhibition provides insight into the creation of some of Picasso's greatest works. It is a collaboration among four international institutions: Musée national Picasso-Paris, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Museo Picasso Málaga, and CaixaForum Madrid. The exhibition runs from February 26 to June 2, 2019, at the Museo Picasso Málaga, Palacio de Buenavista.