A Last-Minute Guide to ‘Picasso Sculpture’ at MoMA
Unlike Picasso the painter, Picasso the sculptor was self-taught — there were no boundaries, and also not much technique at first. He worked fast in short productive spurts, always striding forward. In his “Glass of Absinthe” bronzes from 1914, Picasso lets slotted absinthe spoons play themselves. And like many of his sculptural works, seen from the right angle, a face comes into view.
But in “Head of a Woman” (1929-30), the colanders and springs are hard to spot until you hunt for them.
Then, in “Bull’s Head” (1942), it works both ways. We can see the bicycle handlebars and seat as what they are, and also as what they have become — the transformation from inanimate to animate.
In “Woman Reading” (1951-53), legs and an arm were made of screws, conduit served as a braid and a piece of wood became the perfect stand-in for a pleated skirt. All of this was cast in bronze and then painted by Picasso.
A toy car becomes a head in “Baboon and Young” (1951), with the simple addition of two small balls for the pupils of its feral eyes.
Picasso’s sculptural works were very intuitive, making imaginative use of whatever he found around him. The 1907 work “Figure” is carved in boxwood. 
Compare that relatively straightforward carving to the gnarly 1934 assemblage “The Reaper,” incorporating plaster and several pieces of wood, both natural and machined. A genius of tactility.
In “Bull” (1958), different shapes cut from flat blockboard and nailed together take on a 3-D quality with the addition of branches and mop handles and a painting stretcher to mark the animal’s face.
Unlike Picasso the painter, Picasso the sculptor was self-taught — there were no boundaries, and also not much technique at first. He worked fast in short productive spurts, always striding forward. In his “Glass of Absinthe” bronzes from 1914, Picasso lets slotted absinthe spoons play themselves. And like many of his sculptural works, seen from the right angle, a face comes into view.
But in “Head of a Woman” (1929-30), the colanders and springs are hard to spot until you hunt for them.
Then, in “Bull’s Head” (1942), it works both ways. We can see the bicycle handlebars and seat as what they are, and also as what they have become — the transformation from inanimate to animate.
In “Woman Reading” (1951-53), legs and an arm were made of screws, conduit served as a braid and a piece of wood became the perfect stand-in for a pleated skirt. All of this was cast in bronze and then painted by Picasso.
A toy car becomes a head in “Baboon and Young” (1951), with the simple addition of two small balls for the pupils of its feral eyes.
Picasso’s sculptural works were very intuitive, making imaginative use of whatever he found around him. The 1907 work “Figure” is carved in boxwood. 
Compare that relatively straightforward carving to the gnarly 1934 assemblage “The Reaper,” incorporating plaster and several pieces of wood, both natural and machined. A genius of tactility.
In “Bull” (1958), different shapes cut from flat blockboard and nailed together take on a 3-D quality with the addition of branches and mop handles and a painting stretcher to mark the animal’s face.
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