Losing Picasso: The Challenges of Condensing a Life

Filmmakers Ismail Merchant and James Ivory faced almost insurmountable challenges in producing the film “Surviving Picasso,” which takes on the relationship between Pablo Picasso and his companion Francoise Gilot. They were not able to attain the rights to Gilot’s autobiography Life with Picasso, relying instead on Arianna Huffington’s Picasso: Creator and Destroyer, nor did they receive permission to show any of Picasso’s artwork.

This lecture with Caroline Harris, associate director for education, investigates the resulting depiction of the painter, providing a larger context for the period portrayed. While deeply flawed, the film has at least two saving graces: Anthony Hopkins’s masterful portrayal of Picasso and Julianne’s Moore’s turn as Dora Maar.

Please watch the film at your leisure, then join us on Zoom for the lecture. Available to rent on Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Amazon Prime Video, and iTunes. In partnership with the Princeton Garden Theatre.

Register here: https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RHP83YnkRLq7rWmfwjqMcw