Pablo Picasso Deux femmes avec un vase à fleurs, 27 September 1959 Linoleum cut 62.3 × 75.4 cm Inv. no. 1093.209 Graphische Sammlung ETH Zürich Deposit Gottfried Keller-Stiftung, Schenkung Bloch, accession 1972; © Succession Picasso / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich

Picasso & Bloch - Friendship as a collection

Editor Nicole Seipp-Isele

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The ETH Zurich's Department of Prints and Drawings presents "Picasso and Bloch", the story of an unusual friendship - of dedications, collections and the freedom of painting.

It was a relationship based on mutual appreciation and an artistic understanding on an equal footing. Picasso appreciated Bloch's precise eye for his sketches and the way they were made, while Bloch was fascinated by Picasso's technical perfection and wealth of ideas. His collection comprised almost all of the artist's graphic works, including many dedications. As a renowned connoisseur, Bloch published the catalogue raisonné of Picasso's prints in four volumes.

The happiness of disobedience

The deeply felt appreciation for Picasso's work is also evident in Bloch's handling of his friend's legacy. Although Picasso had advised him to sell the sketches after his death - "otherwise it will die in the cellars of the museums" - Bloch, who was married but childless, decided against it. So from 1972, he donated several hundred prints to the Gottfried Keller Foundation, on condition that they be distributed among eight Swiss museums and regularly exhibited to the public. One of the exhibition venues considered is the Graphic Art Collection at ETH Zurich, which still fulfils Bloch's conditions to this day.

Pablo PicassoPortrait de Jacqueline au chapeau de paille fleuri, 1962Colour linocut62.5 × 44.3 cmInv. no. 1093.239Graphische Sammlung ETH ZürichDepositum Gottfried Keller-Stiftung, Schenkung Bloch,accession 1972;© Succession Picasso / 2025, ProLitteris, Zurich

Pablo PicassooToros en Vallauris 1954, 1954 Linoleum cut75.6 × 95.4 cmInv. no. 1093.291Graphische Sammlung ETH ZürichDepositum Gottfried Keller-Stiftung, Schenkung Bloch,Accessed 1972; © Succession Picasso / 2025, ProLitteris,Zurich

Show of stylistic diversity

In the exhibition curated by Dr Linda Schädler, visitors will encounter works from all phases of Picasso's oeuvre - from early sketches from the Blue Period to playfully reduced compositions from his late work. The presentation makes Picasso's impressive stylistic diversity and technical range immediately tangible.

In the darkened room of the Graphische Sammlung, a soft light blue support screen serves as a reference to the sky and daylight. The tone creates an ideal stage for the predominantly black and white sheets and allows them to stand out with particular clarity.

The extent to which Picasso became one with his motifs is also evident in his working method: He hardly needed models or backdrops during his creative process. He drew almost exclusively from memory. However, he repeatedly depicted himself as a painter in the middle of his work.

For example, in "Le Peintre sur la plage", a humorous, profound self-portrait. Picasso in a smock surrounded by naked people and a stylised horse on the beach suggest a feeling of natural freedom and independence. The painter comes across as a playful, almost childlike creator who observes the world with an alert eye and transforms it into art. The painting celebrates the freedom of painting and the eternal interplay between artist and reality.

In "Hibou à la chaise", we encounter an owl on a chair, but not as a lifelike reproduction, but in a cubist, geometrically fragmented form. The work ties in with the analytical and synthetic cubism that Picasso was instrumental in developing. The owl, a symbol of wisdom, night and mystery, is formally reduced here and opens up space for individual interpretations.
The poster "Toros en Vallauris", an expressive, stylised depiction of a bullfight, is also on display. It is exemplary of Picasso's late style, characterised by dynamic composition and reduced colour, and at the same time refers to his intensive engagement with the culture of southern France.

The fact that the "Portrait de Jacqueline au chapeau de paille fleuri" of all things forms the cover motif of the exhibition is significant. Jacqueline Roque was Picasso's last great muse and wife; a key figure in his later years.

She symbolises what makes great art last: closeness, memory and the silent bonds that live on when everything else fades away.