The Donation of David Douglas Duncan

A selection of photographs by David Douglas Duncan donated by the photographer to the Museu Picasso to commemorate the museum's fiftieth anniversary. Taken at the artist's home, La Californie, between 1956 and 1962, these pictures give us a glimpse of Picasso's life and artistic procedures.

David Douglas Duncan met Pablo Picasso on 8 February 1956. The photographer, who lived in the south of France, was on his way back from the East before heading towards Africa. Robert Capa had promised to introduce him to the artist, but unfortunately he had lost his life at war in Indochina two years earlier. That day Duncan rang the Picasso residence in Cannes, La Californie; presenting himself as a friend of Capa's, he sent the artist his regards. Jacqueline invited Duncan to their home, and his visit kindled a warm friendship with Picasso and Jacqueline that would last until the artist's death seventeen years later. Duncan expressed this relationship in his photographs, especially those made between 1956 and 1962.

In 2013, Duncan paid tribute to his friend by donating 163 of these pictures to the Museu Picasso to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. A selection of snapshots taken at La Californie offers us an insight into Picasso's life and artistic techniques, filtered through the gaze of David Douglas Duncan.