There’s a Picasso you’ve probably never met — and he’s waiting for you in Dallas. Picasso Beyond the Canvas, now on view at the Meadows Museum at SMU, gathers 18 ceramic objects by Pablo Picasso, revealing the joyful, experimental side of the 20th century’s most famous artist.
The pieces date from 1953 to 1963, the height of Picasso’s ceramic production, when he worked with clay at the Madoura pottery studio in Vallauris, France. After World War II, Picasso embraced ceramics as a democratic art form — affordable, accessible, and bursting with inventiveness. Through engraved surfaces, painted decoration, and sculptural transformations of everyday vessels, he merged painting, printmaking, and sculpture into a single medium.
All 18 works are gifts to the museum — from the Tonti family, the estate of Stephen Kahn, and Catherine B. Taylor — and many are being displayed together publicly for the very first time. Highlights include Face with Pinched Nose (Visage au nez pincé) (1959), a vividly decorated ceramic plate full of playful expression, and Woman Lamp (Lampe femme) (1955), a striking vessel turned into a female figure.
Picasso Beyond the Canvas is on view through January 24, 2027, at the Meadows Museum, 5900 Bishop Blvd. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Thursdays until 9 p.m.), and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $4 for non-SMU students — and free for youth 18 and under.
Photo: Meadows Museum, Dallas
