Croque monsieur and the papers

In an attempt to get some winter sun and shrug off the February torpor I headed out early to The Royal Academy of Art.

I expected visitors to Picasso and Paper to be queueing around the block as the doors opened but it was surprisingly quiet.

I've been lucky enough to see a lot of his work over the years. Stand out exhibitions being 'Guernica' at the Reina Sofia in Madrid, ceramics at the Gagosian a few years ago, Even the exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York a few years ago had it's good points.

Here there is a vast array of drawings and prints. The early academic portraits are exceptional. Later collages were surprising (I don't think I had seen any of them before).

In one of the later galleries I was in for a real surprise.

Pablo didn't isolate himself from other artists, Édouard Manet was amongst his friends. Picasso's response to "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe' is hilarious.


It's a big show, easily as big as the 'Blake', so give yourself time if you go.


After that, brunch in the Zedel Cafe was the order of the day. It's very French. I imagined Picasso and Manet sitting at the next table talking about art.