How to see Picasso landscapes exhibit for free or at a discount in Charlotte

Editor’s note: This story was updated Feb. 7, 2023, with more information about ticketing for the free admission day.

As The Mint Museum prepares for its big Picasso landscapes exhibition that launches Feb. 11, it’s continuing to work with local arts groups and creative types to amp up the Picasso ties.

It’s also ensuring there’s a way for the public to see “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds” for free or at a discounted rate.

Exhibition admission for adults is $25 and includes entry to “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds” and “Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations.” (Museum admission is normally $15 for adults.) Throughout the exhibition, however, the Mint will have free admission for people ages 17 and younger, plus military, student and senior discounts.

“We wanted to make sure as much as we could that people who want to see this exhibition can see this exhibition,” Mint CEO Todd Herman said.

To that end, on Wednesdays, when general admission to the museum is free from 5 to 9 p.m., tickets to “Picasso Landscapes” and “Bearden/Picasso” cost $10.

And on April 8, the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death, admission to the Mint and the Picasso exhibits will be free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. People still need to order timed entry tickets for that day, however. (For more details on tickets: mintmuseum.org/ticketing/)

Ticketing for the April 8 “Free Community Celebration” will open at a later date, allowing the museum time to observe crowds and determine the appropriate amount of time for visitors to tour the gallery.

Murals around town

A number of local organizations planned works coinciding with the exhibit, including the Charlotte Symphony, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African- American Arts + Culture, Charlotte Ballet and Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Mint curator Jennifer Sudul Edwards said her biggest challenge has been making sure that as many of Charlotte’s cultural institutions are involved to bring the Picasso show out of the gallery and into other spaces.

“It’s advertising for the show to get people excited,” Edwards said. “But it’s also to show that artists are constantly looking at the past and looking at what other artists have created.”

Part of that includes collaborating with Talking Walls, a citywide public art and murals festival group, to have artists create murals throughout the city, Edwards said.

The murals will be the artists’ updated take on Picasso’s work, including “Guernica.” That painting about the Spanish Civil War is named after the northern Spanish town that Hitler and Mussolini bombed in 1936 at Franco’s request.

Throughout Tuesday morning at Mint Museum Uptown, Charlotte artist Arko was working to finish a mash-up of styles for a mural that he and fellow artist Dammit Wesley had teamed up on at the Mint. The piece covered a 30-foot wall at the museum.

On March 24, there will be a celebration for the mural project at the Mint from 6 to 9 p.m.

Here are some of the other Mint programs and related events happening around Charlotte and at the museum:

‘Bearden/Picasso: Rhythms and Reverberations’

The Mint developed a second exhibition — “Bearden/Picasso Rhythms and Reverberations” — that will be in the same space as “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds.” It highlights Romare Bearden, a Charlotte native and another major figure of the 20th century art world, as well as Picasso.

The Mint has the largest public collection of Bearden’s work, and wanted to spotlight the artist for people coming to town for the Picasso show but who might not be familiar with Bearden.

“He traveled to Paris and was not just intrigued but influenced by what Pablo Picasso was doing, especially in the realm of collage,” Herman said.

The Mint exhibit includes three loaned works by Picasso and 17 by Bearden from the Mint’s collection and loans from other museums and private collections.

Nearly half of the works are of Bearden’s rarely seen early paintings from the 1940s — when he was immersed in the New York art scene and when Picasso was frequently exhibiting there, according to the Mint.

This first-of-its-kind exhibition is divided into four themes: imagery of bulls and bullfighting; music and rhythm; interior scenes and doorways and windows as compositional devices; and a “stained glass” aesthetic.

The comparison goes beyond shared subject matter such as African masks and Picasso’s Cubism influences on Bearden’s collage work.

Bearden also was a student of art history who had met Picasso in the 1950s and was interested in exploring lots of different art styles, said Jonathan Stuhlman. He curated the exhibition and is senior curator of American art at The Mint Museum.

On March 18, the Mint will host “An Afternoon Salon: Romare Bearden and Modernism” from 2 to 4 p.m.

It will feature Richard Powell, Duke University professor and Romare Bearden Foundation adviser, Denise Murrell, curator-at-large at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and moderator Diedra Harris-Kelley, co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation.

The Charlotte Symphony

Connecting music and art, Charlotte Symphony presents Picasso + Stravinsky, 7:30 p.m. on March 10-11 at the Knight Theatre.

Paolo Bortolameolli joins the orchestra to explore music by composers that Picasso worked with and admired. This includes two ballets — Igor Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella” and Erik Satie’s “Parade” — that Picasso designed costumes and sets for.

Before the concert, Bortolameolli and resident conductor Christopher James Lees will talk about the program at 6:30 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Pre-Function Space. For tickets, visit charlottesymphony.org.

The George Gallery

The George Gallery in Charlotte is showing “Century to Century,” an exhibition of works by German artist Otto Neumann, March 24 to April 14 at 631 S. Sharon Amity Road, Charlotte. The show includes drawings, watercolors and monotypes that Neumann is known for which have not been exhibited before.

Both Picasso and Neumann explored landscapes and still-life compositions, but concentrated on the human form.

Toshkova Fine Art Gallery + Advisory

TFA Gallery + Advisory presents “Pablo Picasso & Rozeal: An Exploration of the Human Form,” through March 7 at 2325 Crescent Ave., Charlotte.

This presentation shows the differing interpretation of the human form.

The seven etching and linocut works, some signed by Picasso, from the “Suite Vollard” (1930-37) give an intimate look into Picasso’s creative mind. Each represents a theme taken from art history.

Rozeal, formerly known at Iona Rozeal Brown and a native of Washington, D.C., transforms centuries-old Japanese print-making style of ukiyo-e to create a modern version of the geisha, kabuki and samurai within hip-hop culture.

Theatre Charlotte

Theatre Charlotte will perform Steve Martin’s off-Broadway comedy, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” at 6:30 p.m. May 4-6, May 11-13 and May 18-21 at Mint Museum Uptown in the James B. Duke Auditorium. Sunday matinees will be May 7 and 14 at Divine Barrel Brewing, 3701 N. Davidson St., according to the Mint.

As for the show itself, imagine it’s 1904 and Picasso and Albert Einstein, both 25, walk into a bar. Martin takes it from there.

For tickets, visit theatrecharlotte.org.

JazzArts Charlotte

JazzArts Charlotte and its president and CEO Lonnie Davis will perform Bearden’s songs — Bearden was also a musician and had a number of hit songs.

The performance at 2 p.m. March 4 at Mint Museum Uptown explores Bearden’s relationship with jazz, other musicians and works of art that were influenced by the music. It’s free with museum admission.

On April 15, there will be a lecture and music focused on “American Jazz in Paris” in the 1920s at the Mint. UNC Charlotte lecturer of music Kelsey Klotz and JazzArts Charlotte will explore the relationships between jazz, symphonic jazz, and modernism. The program is free with museum admission.

Observer Arts Editor Adam Bell contributed to this report

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This story was originally published February 3, 2023 at 5:50 AM.