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Pablo Picasso: Paintings in Glass

17 May 2023

(From left) Ribbon-cutting ceremony by Chairman Emeritus of French May Arts Festival Dr Andrew S. Yuen, Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Christile Drulhe, Art Committee Chairman of Hongkong Land Limited Sherry Wong, UMAG Director Dr Florian Knothe.

Portrait of Marie-Thérèse Walter
Roger Malherbe-Navarre (Les
Gemmaux de France studio)
After Pablo Picasso
1954–1957
Gemmail
H. 74.5 cm x W. 62.5 cm
Private collection
(Photograph courtesy of Sean Baylis)

Women of Algiers (Les femmes d’Alger)
Roger Malherbe-Navarre (Les Gemmaux de France studio)
After Pablo Picasso
1954–1957
Gemmail
H. 110 cm x W. 143 cm
Private collection
(Photograph courtesy of Sean Baylis)

Still life with gourd (Nature morte à la gourde)
Roger Malherbe-Navarre (Les Gemmaux de France studio)
After Pablo Picasso
1954–1957
Gemmail
H. 71 cm x W. 60 cm
Private collection
(Photograph courtesy of Sean Baylis)

Still life with pigeon (Nature morte au pigeon)
Roger Malherbe-Navarre (Les Gemmaux de France studio)
After Pablo Picasso
1954–1957
Gemmail
H. 70.5 cm x W. 85 cm
Private collection
(Photograph courtesy of Sean Baylis)

Bullfight (Course de taureaux)
Roger Malherbe-Navarre (Les Gemmaux de France studio)
After Pablo Picasso
1954–1957
Gemmail
H. 82 cm x W. 113 cm
Private collection
(Photograph courtesy of Sean Baylis)

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The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) is honoured to present Pablo Picasso: Paintings in Glass, an unprecedented display of works by the world-famous twentieth-century painter, supported by the French May Arts Festival and Hongkong Land.

An opening ceremony of the exhibition was held at UMAG today (May 17). Officiating guests included Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Christile Drulhe, Chairman Emeritus of French May Arts Festival Dr Andrew S. Yuen, Art Committee Chairman of Hongkong Land Limited Sherry Wong and UMAG Director Dr Florian Knothe.

In the mid-1950s, the workshops of Roger Malherbe-Navarre expanded on the light boxes of French painter Jean Crotti by layering pieces of glass into pictorial depictions (gemmail, French for ‘enamel gem’) of several of Picasso’s paintings.

Impressed by the gemmistes’ masterful assembling and fusing of carefully selected glass, Picasso declared ‘A new art is born!’ Made and exhibited to explore and display the medium’s artistic possibilities, the results are simply astonishing. The selection of works on loan from a private collection, and on view at UMAG during the French May Arts Festival 2023, shed a new light on some of Picasso’s most renowned painterly compositions.

For more images and exhibit captions, please click here.

Details of the Exhibition
Period: May 18, 2023 (Thursday) to August 27, 2023 (Sunday)

Opening Hours:
9:30 am–6:00 pm (Tuesday to Saturday)
1:00 pm–6:00 pm (Sunday)
Closed on Mondays, University and Public Holidays
Venue: 1/F & 2/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, HKU, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Tel/Email: (852) 2241 5500 (General Enquiry) / museum@hku.hk
Admission: Free
Website: https://umag.hku.hk/exhibition/pablo-picasso-paintings-in-glass/

Connect with UMAG on Social Media:
Facebook: http://bit.ly/umag_facebook
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Weibo: @香港大學美術博物館UMAG

About University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong (UMAG)
UMAG was founded in 1953 as the Fung Ping Shan Museum. It was originally established as the Fung Ping Shan Library in 1932 in honour of its benefactor. For more information on UMAG, please click here.

Media Enquiries
Ms Elena Cheung | Curator (Education), UMAG | Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk
Ms Eunice Cheung | Curatorial Assistant, UMAG | Tel: (852) 2219 4514, Email: ecyh@hku.hk

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