Among Picasso’s long list of expressive outlets, don’t forget jewelry. His earliest jewelry muse, Dora Maar, inspired him to create large shell necklaces for her (one of Maar’s most famous photographs features a female hand emerging surreally from a shell). Picasso would widen his experimentation, treating these adornments as miniature sculptures. He created works with goldsmiths, modeled ceramic pieces in Madoura’s workshop, and combed for shells on the beaches of Juan-les-Pins. Picasso made jewelry for those close to him—Maar, Françoise Gilot, Jaqueline Roque, and his children. This intimate, little-known facet of Picasso’s oeuvre is now showcased at Museu Picasso. —E.C.

Picasso and Artist’s Jewellery
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Museu Picasso / Barcelona / Art
Museu Picasso / Barcelona / Art
David Douglas Duncan, Pablo Picasso adjusting a necklace he made for Jacqueline Roque, 1957 © Succession Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid 2021 © David Douglas Duncan.
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