Picasso Cut Papers

Exhibition at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2 October -31 December 2022

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) has made cut papers from 1899 to the 1960s. Although the Spanish artist rarely sold or exhibited his papiers découpés during his lifetime, he signed, dated and archived them just as he did all his works. They were simply part of a more private studio practice, often made for family or as models for his fabricators.

Spanning the full career of Picasso (1881-1973), this exhibition catalogue features some of the artist's most whimsical and intriguing works made on paper and in paper, alongside a select group of sculptures in metal, wood and ceramic.

This first publication focusing solely on Picasso's cut papers features many works reproduced for the first time, alongside new scholarship on this little-known topic, which contribute to the ongoing discourse surrounding innovation and abstraction at the roots of modern art.