A love affair with Pablo Picasso

Angela Rosengart beside two etchings Picasso did
of her when she was 19 
(Courtesy: rosengart collection)

LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND – Angela Rosengart was only a teenager when she met Pablo Picasso for the first time. Today, at the ripe young age of 90, the Swiss art collector from Lucerne fondly recalls more than 50 encounters with the charismatic Spanish artist, most notably the five occasions when she posed for him.

The museum is a two minute walk from the Chapel Bridge 
(Courtesy: mySwitzerland.com)

For years Rosengart displayed her collection of Picassos in a historic but unobtrusive gallery on a side street in the Old Town of Lucerne. In 2002 however, the exhibition expanded and moved to a neoclassical building across the River Reuss in New Town. Situated on Pilatustrasse, across the street from the railway station and in the shadow of the famed Chapel Bridge, the new display actually represents three Rosengart collections, each with its own floor.

Rosengart Museum, Lucerne
(Courtesy: mySwitzerland.com)

Over the years Rosengart also met Miro, Matisse, Braque and Chagall, but none of them could match the aura of Picasso. “It was those deep, piercing Spanish eyes,” she says, “They felt like arrows, and I very much felt that.”

After sessions ranging from 20 minutes to three hours, Frau Rosengart says she was exhausted each time because her soul felt “burned” by the experience.

Following the footsteps of her father Siegried who developed her interest in art and collecting, Frau Rosengart’s exhibition includes about 60 Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, over 125 water colors and drawings by native son artist Paul Klee and 32 oils plus more than 50 drawings by Picasso.

Siegfried Rosengart became Picasso’s principal dealer in Switzerland and held eight exhibitions of the artist’s work between 1956 and 1971. Each catalogue cover was designed by the artist himself.

For years the Rosengarts frequently visited Picasso in the south of France, and it was this unique life-long friendship that has a subliminal effect on visitors to her gallery today.

David Douglas Duncan met Picasso for the first time when
the artist was taking a bath
(Courtesy: rosengart collection)

Part of the magic lies in a collection of black and white photographs by American photojournalist David Douglas Duncan that chronicle the artist’s life. Duncan and Picasso became close friends, and he was the only person who was allowed to photograph many of Picasso’s private paintings.

Duncan made a name for himself as a combat photographer. Duncan, who died at 102 in 2018, first met Picasso while on assignment for Life magazine. The artist invited him to enter as he was taking a bath. Unable to resist the opportunity, Duncan’s photographic instincts took over and the friendship grew from there.

One of five portraits
by Picasso
(Courtesy: rosengart
collection)

Later, Angela purchased Duncan’s entire collection of Picasso images. When combined with her personal collection of Picasso’s work, the artist comes to life in ways that are difficult to describe without a personal viewing.

The five portraits of Angela, which Picasso gave to her, are the centerpiece of her exhibition. Though Picasso was passionate in his love for women, his sketches of Angela are “compassionate” in a manner that presents his subject as the chaste, innocent teenager she was. In that sense, the etchings are uniquely different from most of Picasso’s other portraits.

Rosengart believes that perhaps the reason for the lovingly platonic representations of her was due to the fact that Picasso’s childhood sweetheart’s name was Angela.

Says Rosengart of Picasso’s portraits, “He only wanted to know whether my mother liked them.”

The haunting, penetrating eyes of genius 
(Photo: peabod)

Angela Rosengart never married. If she had, she says she would have never been able to amass her collections.

Despite that, when one of Siegfried’s clients became frustrated that Angela’s father would not sell one of his prized Picassos because he had promised it to his daughter on her wedding day, the bemused Picasso pragmatically asked, “Then why didn’t he marry Angela?”

Thanks to their close association with the artist, the Rosengarts were able to watch Picasso at work on several occasions. That relationship allowed them to reserve some of the renderings while the paint was still wet.

So intimate and personal are Angela Rosengart’s collections that she never lends to other galleries. For her, a stroll through her museum is like visiting with old friends.

Other artists are featured 
as well, like Renoir
(Courtesy: oskar reinhart foundation)

The Rosengart collection features the works of Monet, Renoir, Pissaro and Chagall as well as those of Paul Klee, who also holds a place deep in Angela’s heart. But it is the works of Pablo Picasso she holds most dear.

You see this is a love story about a triangle between a photographer, an artist and a collector. It is a story about life, living and friendship and though it was not sexual, it was every bit as passionate and intimate.

http://www.rosengart.ch/en/Agenda?catid=60