Lucien Clergue Collection

History of the creator

Lucien Clergue (1934-2014) was a French photographer and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France. He met Picasso in 1955 at a bullfight and they began a friendship that would last until Picasso's death in 1973.

He began studying photography in 1948. He broke new ground in erotic photography and contributed to a number of photographic projects, such as the series Despullats en el mar (Nude in the sea) and Cuerpos memorables (Memorable bodies). His work also dealt with other themes such as nature and bullfighting, and he also worked on Jean Cocteau's film Testament of Orpheus, and another about Pablo Picasso.

In 1968 he founded the Rencontres d’Arle photography festival, and from 1976 taught at the University of Provence and at the New School in New York.

Of particular note from among his bibliography is the book he dedicated to Picasso, Picasso mon ami.

Lucien Clergue's photographic collection comprises 595 vintage photographs. They are paper prints produced by the author from the original negative immediately after it had been developed.

Most of the photographs are signed, stamped and annotated by the photographer, which has helped document them. They are back and white silver prints developed on different types and sizes of paper, ranging from 9 x 12 cm to 50 x 60 cm.

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona entered into negotiations with Lucien Clergue in 2014 to purchase his collection. The photographer passed away during the negotiations, which could not be resumed until the inheritance process had been finalised. The collection was eventually acquired in 2016.

The negatives are still in the custody of the photographer's family.

It is worth mentioning that, before the collection reached the Museum, the 595 photographs were inventoried and arranged in Arle.

The organisation and conservation processes applied to this collection followed the standard protocol: Identification of collection type (personal collection), summary of its physical location, chronological arrangement, classification, codification, description in accordance with the standards established by the NODAC and the ISBD, and digitisation following the Picasso Museum's protocols for reproducing documentary collections.

Regarding the preventive conservation of the photographs, they have been cleaned, flattened, stored in sleeves and placed in conservation boxes.

Scope and content

Lucien Clergue's photographic collection comprises 595 photographs taken between l953 and 1978. The vast majority of them were taken in France (Mougins, Arles, Cannes, Frejus, etc.), and a small number in Stockholm, Zurich, New York and Chicago.

Lucien Clergue's photography is particularly remarkable as it documents the artist's social life during the 1950s and 1960s, including pictures taken at bullfights, gypsy festivals, visits from friends, film sets and days at the beach. Of these photographs, we might call particular attention to those in which Picasso appears engraving his name on Manitas de plata’s guitar, or the photographs of Picasso at bullfights.

But the pictures also depict Picasso's rise to artistic notoriety, including many photographs of his workshop taken in 1970, showing different paintings and individual pieces.

This collection of photographs is particularly significant given that it represents a very personal account of the artist; the photographic memoirs of Lucien Clergue, Picasso's friend and photographer.

Acquisition

The Lucien Clergue Collection was acquired by the Picasso Museum in Barcelona on 15 September 2016.