site.bta"Picasso through the Eyes of André Villers and Edward Quinn" Opens at Sofia City Art Gallery

National Assembly Chair Vezhdi Rashidov opened an exhibition titled "Picasso through the Eyes of André Villers and Edward Quinn" at the Sofia City Art Gallery (SCAG) Tuesday evening. The exhibition presents photographs of the Spanish artist taken by André Villers and Edward Quinn between 1951 and 1973.

We often look at the masterpieces of great people without knowing anything about their lives, Rashidov said at the opening event Tuesday. "And their life is what gives greatness to their creativity," he added.

He talked about his joint activity with SCAG director Adelina Fileva - one of the exhibition organizers.

"I would very much like Europe to come to our country," he said, adding that as long as he lives he will try “to give what I can to the small but talented country of Bulgaria”.

The beginning of the exhibition project was a year ago, when Rashidov proposed to liaise between the SCAG team with the Barcelona art institute Reial Cercle Artístic, Adelina Fileva said in her opening remarks. "The exhibition has been created by two photographers that Picasso allowed near him. But not just allowed them, they were with him, living and chronicling his life," said the director. 

She added that apart from being one of the genius artists who changed the course of world art, Picasso is also one of the most photographed artists in the world.

"This exhibition presents Picasso as a human being. People who are inside the art field say that Pablo Picasso was a very harsh man, sometimes even disdainful. But in this exhibition you can see the gentle Picasso, his other face," said José Félix Benz Oliver, who curated the exhibition with Dr. Juan Abeyo Juanpere. 

The selected photographs show the Spanish artist with his children, in his studio, at the Cannes Film Festival, and in the audience at a bullfight organized in his honour. In some of the shots, Picasso poses as Popeye, wearing a bullfighter's mask, among others.

"Many circumstances come together here. First, we need an artist, this is Picasso. Then there are also other artists who are the photographers who took these pictures. Then come the collectors who buy these pictures. And when all these photographs are in the hands of private individuals, then we, artists like Juan Abeyo and myself, come in. But then we also need galleries and museums to exhibit all these works. And finally, of course, we also need the institutional support," said José Félix Benz Oliver, adding that this is how the circle that begins and ends in this exposition is formed.

Among the guests at the opening of the exhibition were also the Consul General of Bulgaria in Barcelona, Tsvetelin Tsolov, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ivan Kondov, the Head of the Foreign Ministry Inspectorate, Nedelcho Danchev, the Director of the Cervantes Institute, Maria Santos, and others.

"Picasso through the eyes of Andre Villers and Edward Quinn" is organized with the assistance of the Barcelona Art Institute Reial Cercle Artístic, the Consulate General of Bulgaria in Barcelona and the Association for Friendship and Cooperation between Catalonia and Bulgaria.