(Above) Still Life with Poron, Pablo Picasso. © Succession Picasso/DACS 2009
The first oil painting by Picasso ever bought by the National Museum Wales is set to go on display today (November 10 2009).
The £1.45 million Still life with Poron has been bought with cash from the Museum's Centenary Fund created and pledges from the Derek Williams Trust and the Art Fund.
"Amgueddfa Cymru has four works on paper by Picasso and acquired a significant group of the artist's autograph ceramics for the collection as part of the Centenary Fund last year," explained Keeper of Art Oliver Fairclough.
"Although this is a good representation of Picasso's work, an oil painting was missing. Still Life with Poron completes our portrayal of one of the greatest creative geniuses of the last century."
Minister for Heritage Alun Ffred Jones said the acquisition reflected "the commitment by both the Museum and the Welsh Assembly Government to transform National Museum Cardiff into a place to see world-class art."
Bought from the E and R Cyzer Gallery in London, the work features a lobster, lemon and a Poron (a traditional Spanish wine pitcher) laid out on a kitchen table. The piece was painted in the artist's studio on the Rue des Grands Augustins in Paris in December 1948.
Picasso painted still lives throughout his career, using the style to experiment with a wide range of approaches.
Despite being painted after the Second War, Still Life with Poron references Picasso's single most important innovation – the development of Cubism in the first decade of the 20th century.
