Picasso Human Figures
National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo
Until Oct 5
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Artists
Pablo Picasso
It can be said of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), the great master of 20th-century art, that he was first and foremost a painter of “people.” He was constantly creating human figures exuding a strong presence, in the process confronting universal themes and emotions such as life and death, war and peace, love and desire. By focusing on Picasso’s figure works, this exhibition seeks to penetrate to the heart of his art.
Picasso’s formal training in drawing from an early age in his native Spain provided him with the basic skills necessary to accurately grasp and reproduce the human form. To this he added a self-taught technique of caricature: humorous exaggeration, simplification, and deformation in the depiction of figures. Subsequently, his invention of Cubism upended the traditional ideal of human beauty, turning figure painting into a new arena for artistic experimentation.
His journey in figure painting traversed a wide range of interests, including socially marginalized people (in his early period), subjects from classical antiquity (between the wars), and “the painter and his model” theme (in his later years). Throughout his career, however, portraiture held center stage. Many of his portraits were not conventionally commissioned works but personal projects: representations of family members, friends, or lovers. Above all, he repeatedly depicted the women closest to him, adopting different techniques and styles, building up multifaceted impressions that also expressed changes in his own feelings for them, impossible to convey in a single image.
This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to showcase an important component of our Picasso collection, which has expanded due to the depositing of numerous additional works with the museum in recent years. Supplemented by several pieces sourced from other Japanese institutions, the 34 figure works on display—paintings, drawings, prints, and documents—illustrate, in all their innovative power and diversity, the many themes and forms of expression pursued by the artist from his youth to his maturity.
Picasso’s formal training in drawing from an early age in his native Spain provided him with the basic skills necessary to accurately grasp and reproduce the human form. To this he added a self-taught technique of caricature: humorous exaggeration, simplification, and deformation in the depiction of figures. Subsequently, his invention of Cubism upended the traditional ideal of human beauty, turning figure painting into a new arena for artistic experimentation.
His journey in figure painting traversed a wide range of interests, including socially marginalized people (in his early period), subjects from classical antiquity (between the wars), and “the painter and his model” theme (in his later years). Throughout his career, however, portraiture held center stage. Many of his portraits were not conventionally commissioned works but personal projects: representations of family members, friends, or lovers. Above all, he repeatedly depicted the women closest to him, adopting different techniques and styles, building up multifaceted impressions that also expressed changes in his own feelings for them, impossible to convey in a single image.
This exhibition provides a unique opportunity to showcase an important component of our Picasso collection, which has expanded due to the depositing of numerous additional works with the museum in recent years. Supplemented by several pieces sourced from other Japanese institutions, the 34 figure works on display—paintings, drawings, prints, and documents—illustrate, in all their innovative power and diversity, the many themes and forms of expression pursued by the artist from his youth to his maturity.
Schedule Now in session | Jun 28 (Sat) 2025-Oct 5 (Sun) 2025 50 days left Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥500; University Students ¥250; High School Students and Under, Seniors 65 & Over, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion free | ||||
| Website | https://www.nmwa.go.jp/en/exhibitions/2025picasso.html | ||||
| Venue | National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo https://www.nmwa.go.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 7-7 Ueno-Koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007 | ||||
| Access | 1 minute walk from the Koen exit of JR Ueno Station, 7 minute walk from the Main exit of Keisei Ueno Station on the Keisei line. | ||||
| Phone | 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial) | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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