Behind-the-scenes with The Design Files
Reflecting on Picasso
The National Gallery of Victoria's Winter Masterpieces exhibition, The Picasso Century, is a decade-by-decade display of his works, joined with a selection of art from his contemporaries. By Lucy Feagins, Founder, The Design Files. Photograph: Sean Fennessy. Colour featured: Dulux Hot Lips.
Iconic collaboration
The Picasso Century exhibition was developed exclusively for the National Gallery of Victoria in conjunction with the Centre Pompidou and the Musée National Picasso-Paris. The blockbuster show contains 70 pieces by the iconic painter and 100 from more than 60 of his contemporaries.
Peer inspiration
By staging Picasso’s own masterpieces beside works from his peers such as Matisse, Dali (pictured) and Gertrude Stein, the exhibition reimagines Picasso's artistic context, social milieu and historical surroundings.
Creative change
Given this huge scale, the exhibition spans the gallery’s entire ground floor. It’s broken down into 15 sections, each one representing a different period in the artist’s life and his corresponding creative oeuvre from his early Cubist years to his legendary blue period.
Wall
Pewter Frame
Pewter Frame is a mid-base warmer greige that is perfect for inside features such as behind a TV in your entertainment room, or for darker renders or weatherboards outside. It schemes beautifully with the mauve-grey of Silkwort, warm neutral of Casper White Quarter and warmth of Terrace White.
Brought to life by Dulux
Dulux colours transform every exhibition held at the National Gallery of Victoria. For this show, exhibition designer Allie Mactier used colour to give viewers a clue about what was happening around Picasso at the time. From subtle Milton Moon and Pewter Frame, to revolutionary (and almost shocking!) Hot Lips red to represent Picasso’s involvement with the Communist Party during World War II, the colours surrounding the paintings recreate the emotional and political mood in which they were created. Not only do these big colours replicate the intense drama of specific historical periods that Picasso lived and worked through, they reinforce the truly radical nature of his work.
The NGV’s Winter Masterpieces exhibition The Picasso Century is open now at the National Gallery of Victoria until October 9, 2022.
Picasso and friends
Dulux colour surrounds the works of a lifetime
Disclaimer
Colours displayed should be used as a guide for your colour selection. To ensure best accuracy, test your colour choice at home by ordering Dulux sample pots, stickers and A4 colour swatches.