Picasso and Chanel: A Shared Aesthetic Explored in Madrid Exhibition

The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid presents 'Picasso/Chanel,' an exhibition exploring the creative dialogue between Pablo Picasso and Coco Chanel. Running until January 15, 2023, it is a key event in the 50th anniversary celebrations of Picasso's death. The show features around 30 Chanel garments and 50 Picasso works—paintings, drawings, and photographs—from European museums and private foundations. Highlights include two loans from the Musée Picasso Paris: 'Two Women Running on the Beach (The Race)' (1922) and 'The Bathers' (1918). The exhibition is organized into sections covering their collaborations on Jean Cocteau's 'Antigone' (1922) and Serge Diaghilev's 'Le Train Bleu' (1924), as well as the influence of Olga Khokhlova, Picasso's first wife and a Chanel client. The Fondazione Tirelli Trappetti in Rome lent ten garments, including pieces once owned by Princess Emilia Altieri. The exhibition juxtaposes Chanel's minimalist, sporty designs with Picasso's Cubist and neoclassical works, highlighting shared aesthetics in color, material, and form. The broader Picasso celebration includes 42 exhibitions across Europe and the United States, coordinated by a binational commission of Spanish and French cultural ministries.