logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
9m 2s

Meeting Picasso

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In the summer of 1951 a young art historian called John Richardson met one of the greatest painters of the modern era. Richardson was part of Picasso's circle in the South of France for the rest of the 1950s and then spent the rest of his life writing the definitive biography of the Spanish artist. John Richardson spoke to Laura Sheeter in 2011. He died in 2019.

PHOTO: Pablo Picasso in Cannes in 1955 (Getty Images)

Up next
Apr 2025
The Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese VietCong guerrillas built a vast network of tunnels in the south of the country as part of the insurgency against the South Vietnamese government and their American allies. The tunnel network was a key base and shelter for the North Vietna ... Show More
9m 43s
Today
Colombia's Salt Cathedral
<p>In 1995, a cathedral was built 180m underground in the Zipaquirá Salt Mine in Colombia. </p><p>The idea came from the miners building makeshift altars in the mine in the 1930s, to pray for their safety before starting their shifts. </p><p>It’s now a major tourist attraction, a ... Show More
10m 35s
Yesterday
Toy Story: the first digitally-animated feature film
<p>Released in 1995, this buddy movie about a cowboy doll and a toy astronaut was the first to use entirely computer-generated images. </p><p>The story, about a group of toys who come alive when humans are not around, appealed to audiences around the world.</p><p>In 2017, animato ... Show More
10m 47s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2011
Picasso
Sixty years ago a young art historian got to know the greatest painter in the world.John Richardson met Picasso in the South of France in 1951.Photo: AFP/Getty 
9m 4s
May 2022
Artists who made history
<p>Max Pearson introduces the memories of people who knew Picasso, Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keeffe; plus, how a collector in the Soviet Union managed to open a museum for Russian artists banned by Stalin, and how a festival in Senegal in the 1960s inspired artists across a newly ... Show More
49m 44s
Nov 2017
Picasso's Guernica
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the context and impact of Pablo Picasso's iconic work, created soon after the bombing on 26th April 1937 that obliterated much of the Basque town of Guernica, and its people. The attack was carried out by warplanes of the German Condor Legion, join ... Show More
54m 17s
Jan 2024
Picasso | Drawing Lessons | 4
A bombshell memoir by a former lover annoys and embarrasses Picasso in his final years. But it is only half a century after his death that his misogyny is seen as truly problematic. And leaves many now grappling with how to separate the art from the artist.Artwork:The Woman in a ... Show More
40m 51s
Jan 2024
Picasso | The Muse | 2
Picasso finds inspiration in an unlikely setting and changes art forever. He also finds his first muse, then his second... and then his third - leaving a trail of suffering behind him.Artwork:Family of Acrobats with Monkey, Pablo Picasso (1905)Portrait of Gertrude Stein, Pablo Pi ... Show More
45m 39s
Jan 2024
Picasso | The Weeping Woman | 3
Death is ever more present in Picasso’s work, as horrific events in his home country inspire him to create one of the defining paintings of the 20th century. Meanwhile his own mortality weighs on him as he approaches old age.Artwork:Guernica, Pablo Picasso (1937)The Weeping Woman ... Show More
34m 48s
Jan 2024
Picasso | Bullfights, Brothels & Bohemia | 1
His father wants him to become a great classical painter, but teenage Pablo Picasso has other ideas. He joins the heady bohemia of Barcelona and Paris, where tragedy transforms his art and puts him on the road to fame.Artwork:The Little Yellow Picador, Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1889)Th ... Show More
43m 20s
May 2023
Pablo Ruiz Picasso - Der Künstler, der sich ständig neu erfand
Rastlos war er bis ins hohe Alter. Maler, Bildhauer, Zeichner, Lithograph, Keramiker. Pablo Picasso hat neue Stile wie den Kubismus mit entwickelt. Seine spanische Heimat liebte er, doch das Spanien Francos hasste er abgrundtief. Autorin: Gabriele Knetsch 
25m 17s
Aug 2021
The Picasso in Exile - Art Mysteries, Episode 2
Pablo Picasso’s most famous work, the anti-war mural called Guernica, is returned to Spain under a veil of secrecy after 44 years outside the country during the Franco dictatorship. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/34q7ffG. 
23m 4s