The Circle of the close friend

Many times during the early 1950s, Pablo Picasso came to stay with friends in Perpignan. His hosts on those occasions were Jacques and Paule de Lazerme, whose beautifully spacious home is now the city’s delightful Musée d’art Hyacinthe Rigaud. He brought with him his close family, and many intellectuals, artists, writers and poets were attracted to stay there too. These friends became known as Le cercle de l’intime, or the circle of the close friend, a group of friends whose intellectual and artistic talents has shaped the cultural life of this Mediterranean city which lies close to the border with Spain.

To celebrate the reopening of the art museum, a special exhibition has been mounted to display pictures of Picasso’s intimate circle and to describe his frequent stays in the city, which appealed to him, not just as an ideal place to rest with friends, but also because of the Catalan nature of the city, Picasso having spent his formative years in Catalan Barcelona on the other side of the border between France and Spain.

(Picasso with some of his intellectual circle of friends at the Hôtel de Lazerme)

These friends were able to provide a protective environment for Picasso who was going through difficult times in the 1950s. His marriage was in crisis, and he was unable to return to his home country across the border since the implementation of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain. Being in Perpignan was the closest he could go.

The exhibition gives us a glimpse, through the many photographs taken between 1953 and 1955, of this group of friends sitting talking, visiting various sites around the city, spending time with his children, and painting some of this close circle of intimates. The whole thing is beautifully displayed and includes some of his sketches done here in those years. The permanent collection at the Musée Hyacinthe Rigaud also contains several original work by Picasso, including some ceramics. Our visit, which I described in my last post, was very enjoyable. The permanent collection alone is well worth a visit, but to have this temporary exhibition about Picasso in the city, was indeed the icing on the cake.

(Portrait of Paule de Lazerme in Catalan dress, painted in Perpignan in 1954)

(Boy playing with a lorry, painted in 1953)

(Peace Dance, painted in September 1953. The figures are dancing the Sardana, the local Catalan dance, performed in a circle)

(Man with barretina and other sketches)

(Pablo Picasso photographed by Raymond Fabre at his studio in Perpignan)