During the exhibition Picasso by the Sea.
Ceramics and Sculpture, at museum Beelden aan Zee, can be seen a thought-provoking English-language solo theatrical performance, Mrs. Picasso. Featured are Olga Khokhlova, from whom Picasso was never divorced, and Françoise Gilot, the only woman who ever dared to leave him. Both of these women are powerfully represented in an impassioned performance by actress Carlijn van Ramshorst.
The play explores the boundaries between art and love, madness and sanity, and leaving and staying. The third woman in this performance is Carlijn herself, who in a playful and sometimes audacious way breaks through the theatrical conventions. As writer and director Harry Piekema says ‘Carlijn could have easily been Picasso’s muse.’
In this intimate play, the members of the audience are given the opportunity to share the thoughts and emotions of the characters, and indeed to empathize with them. The debut of Mrs. Picasso in Shanghai was met with critical acclaim. Carlijn van Ramshorst also performed this piece earlier this year at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival.
The production’s theme ties in with the successful exhibition Picasso by the Sea. Ceramics and Sculpture, which can be seen until 5 March 2017 at museum Beelden aan Zee. Picasso’s sculptural ceramics play the principal role in this exhibition. Picasso created an extensive ceramic oeuvre in the period that followed World War II. There is considerable speculation as to reason why Picasso developed a great interest in this – for him new – material in the post-war years. Could it have had to do with his new young lover Françoise Gilot? In any event, the artist was attracted by the everlasting durability, plasticity and lustre of ceramics.
The exhibition Picasso by the Sea contains a large number of exceptional works on loan from the finest (private) Picasso collections in Europe. Guest conservator Jean-Louis Andral, director of the Musée Picasso in Antibes, assembled the exhibition.
Performance dates and times:
15 and 17 December 2016, 20 and 21 January 2017, 16 and 18 February 2017, at 5.30 p.m.
Tickets for the performance via www.beeldenaanzee.nl
