Picasso’s “Joy of Life” Exhibition Opens at Ancient Eleutherna Museum

The Museum of Ancient Eleutherna near Rethymno, Crete, celebrated its eighth anniversary with the inauguration of an exhibition on Pablo Picasso. Guests included Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, former Queen Sofía of Spain and her sister Irene, and Picasso’s daughter, Paloma.

On the mountain site of Eleutherna, the museum hosts the exhibition “Picasso on Crete: Joy of Life”, showcasing 62 works by Picasso. It was curated by the excavator of Eleutherna and current Director of the Acropolis Museum, Nikos Stampolidis, and Paloma Picasso. They were joined by the general director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta; the prime minister’s wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis; composer Stavros Xarhakos; and singer Giorgos Dalaras, who performed for the guests from Greece and abroad.

At the site, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary since excavations began, Picasso’s works were linked to the museum’s permanent artifacts to celebrate the depiction of the joy of life.

Picasso developed a special relationship with Greece’s light, spirit, and essence, President Sakellaropoulou said. It led him to abandon the distorted images influenced by World War II and incorporate figures of Greek mythology in his art, such as dancing nymphs, satyrs, fauns, and centaurs. The president cited art critic Frank Elgar, who had described Picasso as “more Greek than the Greeks,” and created works that converse with one another continuously in the present moment.

Professor Stampolidis, who is responsible for creating the Archaeological Park of Eleutherna and the museum, said that he and Paloma Picasso selected pieces of her father’s work where nature, animals, and Mediterranean light danced in harmony with ancient Greek myths. “We chose the Museum of Ancient Eleutherna as a site for the exhibition, within a magical archaeological space where the ancient breeze still blows and whispers secrets of the joy of life,” he said.

Paloma Picasso said the exhibit’s purpose is to share the directness that was characteristic of Picasso. She noted that the 62 works by her father converse with 24 themes from the museum, proving the deep influence that Greek mythology and antiquity had on him. She also said the exhibition was dedicated to and honored her late brother Claude (who died in 2023), and she hoped to convey the sense of joy and inspiration that they both experienced as children growing up in a world where imagination and reality were linked. Claude, she said, felt very strongly about Crete and the Aegean, where he asked that his ashes be scattered.

A book related to the exhibition and family life with Picasso is dedicated to him. On Sunday, Paloma Picasso signed copies of the book for visitors to the Museum of Ancient Eleutherna.