According to sources, “Picasso: Tête-à-tête,” an exhibition presented in partnership with Pablo Picasso’s daughter Paloma Picasso, at Gagosian’s 980 Madison Avenue gallery, features over 50 rarely seen works spanning the artist’s career, including nearly a dozen pieces being exhibited publicly for the first time.
Paloma Picasso’s Curatorial Vision
Paloma Picasso’s approach to curating her father’s work deliberately rejects chronological rigidity, instead embracing a conversational arrangement that allows pieces from different periods to engage in dialogue with one another. This curatorial philosophy mirrors Pablo Picasso’s own artistic practice, which was characterized by constant evolution and thematic cycling rather than linear progression. “Showing my father’s work as he wanted it to be seen, in conversation across subjects and periods, is a fitting tribute to his legacy,” Paloma explains.
The exhibition at Gagosian Madison Avenue reflects this vision by juxtaposing works spanning from 1896 to 1972, creating unexpected connections across Picasso’s career. This approach invites viewers to experience the full breadth of the artist’s versatility while highlighting the cyclical nature of his artistic investigations. Gagosian is publishing a fully illustrated catalogue featuring a conversation between Paloma Picasso and artist Peter Doig to accompany the exhibition, further contextualizing her unique perspective on her father’s legacy.
Never-Before-Seen Picasso Works
The art world has been experiencing a remarkable surge of previously unseen Picasso works emerging in exhibitions worldwide. In Rome, a 2025 exhibition unveiled “The Adolescent,” providing new insights into Picasso’s experience as “a vulnerable foreigner targeted by the police and rejected by the academy,” revealing a more nuanced understanding of the artist beyond his mythologized status.1 Meanwhile, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art recently displayed 26 masterpieces that had been locked away for over three decades, including significant works like “The Painter and His Model” from 1927, considered the largest canvas from Picasso’s post-cubism era.
Several prestigious galleries are showcasing rare Picasso pieces in 2025. Almine Rech New York’s “Pablo Picasso: Still Life” exhibition (May 1-July 18) features “over forty examples from Picasso’s private collection—including several never before seen by the public.” The Louvre Abu Dhabi has added Picasso’s previously unexhibited “Portrait of a Lady” to its permanent collection, believed to be a portrait of Russian socialite Natalie Paley. The Cleveland Museum of Art stands as the only North American venue offering “Picasso and Paper,” containing over 300 works, including 200 pieces from the Picasso Museum in Paris that provide unique insight into the artist’s creative process.
Gagosian’s Final Exhibition
“Picasso: Tête-à-tête” marks a significant milestone as the final exhibition at Gagosian’s historic 980 Madison Avenue location, which has been the gallery’s flagship space since 1989. Opening on April 18, 2025, this blockbuster show features masterpieces drawn largely from Picasso’s estate alongside works from other prominent collections, spanning the artist’s prolific career from 1896 to 1972. The exhibition represents Gagosian’s 21st show dedicated to the renowned Cubist and serves as the first major international showcase since Paloma Picasso assumed leadership of the Picasso Administration in 2023.1
The gallery’s farewell to its iconic Upper East Side venue, which was originally constructed for the auction house Parke-Bernet, coincides with ongoing renovations at the nearby 976 Madison Avenue where Gagosian will maintain its presence in the neighborhood. While the exhibition’s closing on July 3, 2025 signals the end of an era for the storied space, it simultaneously celebrates Picasso’s enduring legacy through a dynamic presentation that eschews chronological arrangement in favor of creating meaningful dialogues between works from various periods and styles—an approach that mirrors the artist’s own 1932 exhibition at Galerie Georges Petit in Paris.
Father and Daughter
Paloma Picasso appears frequently in her father’s artwork, serving as both subject and inspiration during her childhood years. Pablo captured his daughter’s spirited personality in numerous paintings, depicting her playing with toys or simply being a child. Notable works include “Paloma with an Orange” (1951), “Paloma in Blue” (1952), and “Paloma with Celluloid Fish” (1950), each reflecting the immediacy and energy of his young daughter’s character. These intimate portraits show a momentary pause in her play, as if she had briefly stopped, captivated by her father’s artistic process, before rushing back to her activities.
Despite their close relationship during her early years, Paloma’s connection with her father became complicated after her mother Françoise Gilot published “Life With Picasso” in 1964. Pablo severed contact with both Paloma and her brother Claude following the book’s publication, never reconnecting with them—an experience Paloma has described as painful. Despite this estrangement, Paloma has maintained deep respect for her father’s artistic legacy, acknowledging his complexity while embracing her own creative path through jewelry design rather than painting. In 2023, she assumed leadership of the Picasso Administration following her brother Claude’s death, taking an active role in preserving and presenting her father’s work.
