"Give me a museum and I'll fill it."

Picasso attracted a record number of visitors to Ateneum – 314,755 in total.

An advocate of peace, his finger always on the pulse, the inventor of cubism and maker of collages out of everyday materials, Pablo Picasso is one of the key artists of the 20th century.

Pablo Picasso – Masterpieces from the National Picasso Museum, Paris

The grand exhibition of Ateneum's autumn season presents this master who reinvented his art time after time with inexhaustible creativity, finding his subject matter under the blazing Spanish sun and in the decadent atmosphere of the backstreet cafés of Paris.

There is an exceptionally wide-ranging selection of Picasso's work on show in Helsinki: paintings, sculptures, prints and photographs, bull fights, doves and lovers, portraits, landscapes and still lifes – some two hundred works in total. These travel to Ateneum from the Musée National Picasso in Paris, its director Anne Baldassari being the exhibition curator. Helsinki is the only Scandinavian city hosting this exhibition.

NB! The maximum size of bags allowed in the exhibition rooms is 30 x 20 x 10 cm.

In the spirit of Picasso on Ateneum's third floor

Many Finnish artists have been interested in the different periods of Picasso's art since the 1910s. The focus display on Ateneum's third floor features works by sixteen Finnish artists. It also shows ten prints of Picasso from Ateneum's collections. In the Spirit of Picasso is open until 4 April 2010.

Admission fees for the Picasso exhibition differ from the usual

Advance sale of tickets has ended

It is no longer possible to buy tickets in advance for the final days of the exhibition. Tickets are sold as usual at the museum every opening day.

Introductions to the Picasso exhibition

Contrary to normal practice, there are no guided tours available in Ateneum's Picasso exhibition. Instead you can book an introduction to the exhibition, arranged in the museum's auditorium. Ateneum's expert guides talk about Picasso's art and life and the exhibition themes with use of pictures.

You can also have a guide come to talk about Picasso and Ateneum's exhibition in your own premises within the Helsinki Metropolitan Region.

For prices, bookings and other information, see the page for Private tours.

Audio guide to the Picasso exhibition

Ateneum's audio guide focuses on fifteen works in the exhibition. You can freely choose what and when to listen to. Each presentation takes about 2 minutes, and the whole audio guide about 40 minutes.

The audio guide is available in Finnish, Swedish and English. Devices are for hire for 3 €.

Listen to a sample presentation.

This exhibition is a part of the arts year 2009 programme of Helsinki and the metropolitan region: helsinkiart.fi

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