Friday, Sep. 16, 2016 – Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017

Pablo Picasso, Self-portrait (Autoportrait), 1918. Charcoal and graphite on paper, 25 1/4x19 1/2 in. (64.2x49.4 cm). Musee national Picasso, Paris. ©2016 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resources, NY

Famous for pioneering Cubism in the early 1900s, Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was one of the most innovative and prolific artists of the 20th century. Picasso was a master across disciplines and one of the most accomplished draftsman in modern art. He pursued drawing assiduously throughout his career, and while his drawings have previously been the focus of important exhibitions, Picasso The Line explores the distinctiveness of Picasso’s line drawings and considers the essential position that these works hold within the artist’s oeuvre.

Picasso The Line includes drawings from the most important periods of the artist’s long career; it gathers close to 100 of his works on paper that span a wide range of mediums, from pen or pencil to charcoal and collage. The exhibition presents work from public and private collections in the United States and Europe, several of which have never been exhibited in the United States and others are seldom-seen examples in the Menil Collection’s holdings. A beautifully printed, fully-illustrated catalogue accompanies the exhibition and examines Picasso’s use of the fundamental element of line in drawing as well as the role of his art in the Menil Collection.