Marilyn Martin Quotations

We didn't want just another Picasso exhibition. We wanted something that would link the work to a particular context.

He not only saw pictures of African art in books; he was exposed to African art from many of the former French colonies. He learnt from Africa how to turn convex into concave, how to turn chubby cheeks into hollow cheeks.

He was interested in the ritualistic aspect of African art. African art, like Picasso's art, is not about describing things, but about conveying the idea of things and people. The influence of African art on Picasso can be seen in the works he produced from 1907-9.

Picasso never copied African art, which is why this show does not match a specific African work with a Picasso. He took its point of view to express his own art. In his drawings we can see three sketched antelopes which come very close to the Bambara sculptures of antelopes. But then he creates a metamorphosis in which he creates something phenomenal and new.

We wanted to create a dialogue between Picasso and African art.

This is a first. Nowhere else in the world has there been an exhibition showing the relation between Picasso's work and African art.