Picasso at the National Portrait Gallery

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Picasso Portraits, a new exhibition of the celebrated artist's work in portraiture, opens in London this week. The first of its kind since 1996, it brings together an unprecedented collection of his works, many of which have never before been seen in the UK.

Spanning all eras of Picasso's diverse career, from his early Realist paintings to the angular Cubist style for which he is best known, the exhibition provides a new examination into the varied ways in which he approached his subjects. The work reflects his creative freedom in the medium. As he didn't work to commission, his depictions span an assortment of his friends, lovers, wives and children – including Jean Cocteau, Igor Stravinsky, Santiago Rusinol and Olga Picasso – in addition to a number of revealing self-portraits.

The pieces are drawn from both private and public collections around the world, the most notable of which being the Museu Picasso, Barcelona, home to one of the most extensive assemblages of his work. Among the exhibition highlights are a portrait of art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, one of the key advocates of the artist, as well as a 1938 depiction of model and artist Nusch Eluard, a muse for many of Picasso's paintings.

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Picasso Portraits is showing at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, London, from 6 October to 5 February; npg.org.uk