2023 Picasso exhibit in Charlotte will include Romare Bearden paintings. How to see them

New details are emerging about plans for the big Picasso landscape exhibition at Charlotte’s Mint Museum Uptown next year. That includes featuring the works of Romare Bearden, and other local artists.

“Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds” will run from mid-February to late May in 2023, although the final dates remain fluid, Mint Museum spokesman Clayton Sealey told The Charlotte Observer.

The show coincides with the 50th anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s death in April 1973. He was one of the 20th century’s most influential and important artists.

“This is the first time these Picasso paintings will be seen together and is the first time an exhibition of this magnitude will be held at The Mint Museum,” Mint CEO and President Todd Herman said in a news release Thursday touting the exhibition.

Charlotte is the first of only three cities in the U.S. that will host the first traveling exhibition of Picasso’s landscapes. The exhibition is organized by the nonprofit American Federation of Arts.

It will showcase 45 paintings from private collections that have rarely been seen by the public, Herman said during a presentation to Mecklenburg County commissioners on Wednesday. Last year, the museum indicated it could have about 80 Picasso paintings in the exhibition.

Sealey said the Mint is one of many institutions seeking to showcase works by Picasso on the 50th anniversary of his death.

“Between that and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decreased the scope of the project,” he told the Observer in an email. “Despite the amount of pieces being less, the quality has been maintained, and we feel this offering of artwork will be an enriching and memorable experience for the community and the greater region.

“This exhibition remains the largest grouping of Picasso paintings ever on view in Charlotte,” he said.

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The exhibition is expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors at each of its venues.

“There’s a lot to say about the number of people it will bring to the community and the economic impact,” Herman said. “It means there will be a lot of attention on Charlotte.”

Romare Bearden and Picasso

The Mint also is seizing the opportunity to expose more people to Bearden and other area artists.

Bearden’s works will be on display at the Mint at the same time, showing their interrelation in “Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.” Bearden was influenced by Picasso, and Bearden traveled to Paris in 1950 to learn from him, Herman said.

The Mint has an extensive collection of Bearden’s work.

Other artists, groups featured during Picasso exhibit

During the Picasso exhibit, Herman said, the Mint is partnering with: Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Theater Charlotte, JazzArts Charlotte, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Charlotte Ballet, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and local artists.

Here’s what people can expect:

▪ Theater Charlotte will perform comedian Steve Martin’s play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile.”

▪ JazzArts Charlotte and its president and CEO Lonnie Davis will perform Bearden’s songs. Bearden was also a musician and had a number of hit songs, Herman said.

▪ Murals by local artists will be painted throughout the city with their updated take on Picasso’s black-and-white painting “Guernica.” That painting about the Spanish Civil War is named after the northern Spanish town that was bombed in 1936 by Hitler and Mussolini at Franco’s request. Franco wanted to suppress the citizens who wanted to embrace their own culture, Herman told commissioners.

“One thing that we could do to engage our local artists is ask them to update that painting to use that theme that idea of cultural suppression to update this famous painting to today,” Herman said.

Arko, a Charlotte artist who focuses on creating art where it’s usually not available, told commissioners it’s an opportunity to invest in the culture of this city and allows artists to connect and collaborate and inspire new ideas.

“It also gives us a chance to be a representative to our community,” Arko said. “We’re still having a similar fight today.”

Exhibition costs

The Picasso exhibition costs $1.4 million to produce, Herman said, and $900,000 in funding has come from corporate sponsors and private donors.

The remaining $500,000, will be funded by the county and city.

Revenue from the exhibit is expected to be used to underwrite other Mint Museum programs, Herman told commissioners.

Accessibility to see Picasso

The exhibition admission will cost $10 on top of the museum admission. General admission costs $15.

However, there will be free days and evenings scattered throughout the exhibit’s run, Herman said. And people age 17 and younger will get in free.

There also will be free school tours and free admission for CMS art teachers.

“I love the way that you have made room for people from across our community to have this experience,” county commissioner Wilhelmenia Rembert said. “There’s so much that we gain by having access to the arts.”

Observer arts editor Adam Bell contributed to this report.

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