When Willy Rizzo photographs Picasso, he dives into his intimacy, he not only captures Picasso the artist but also the man , the man who is already a legend. Willy Rizzo delivers his unpublished and unexpected photographs of the painter. We discover him in a more intimate way. In each of the photographs, we guess a story, an information.
Willy Rizzo travels to the south of France several times where Picasso resides, notably in his studio in Vallauris and in his villa La Californie in Cannes. During a visit to his house, “His look, his famous look does not let go. “The problem with this house, explains the painter, is not to decorate it, it’s to redecorate it, it’s not to tidy it up but to disturb it.” “Willy Rizzo
In “the eye of Willy Rizzo” portraitist and photoreporter, we discover a relaxed Picasso with his family, Picasso working in his studio, Picasso drawing on the sand a portrait that a wave will erase … Pure moments of poetry. Willy Rizzo was a photographer, who had a great weakness: a taste for beauty that crept everywhere.
“At the time, I took a lot of pictures of Pablo Picasso. I thought we were always doing the same thing. We had to do something new together. I had the idea to have him draw on slates, big school slates. With chalk. “Good idea, it has never been done before,” said he. I had another idea in the back of my mind. I brought him a dozen slates.
The master began to draw. He made twelve slates, and they were mine. It was very nice and very lovely with chalk, and we had quite a funny time. When he arrived at the last, he wiped them all out. The goat, the dove, the naked women … “I can not leave that, my agent will kill me.” I said, “Leave me at least one.” He cleared everything up. For twenty minutes, I saw myself a billionaire. It’s a strange effect, especially since I was about 20 years old. Today only photographs of these ephemeral paintings remain.
For more than half a century, Willy Rizzo’s photographs and design have been exhibited in Paris, London, New York, Milan and Monaco, in prestigious galleries and museums. In 2009, he decided to install his Design and Photography Studio in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and to exhibit his creations.
Some forty color and black and white analogue prints are on sale (between € 6,000 and € 15,000) in his Studio, 12, rue de Verneuil. Many of them are exposed for the first time.
Picasso dans l’œil de Willy Rizzo
October 19 to January 12, 2019
Studio Willy Rizzo
12 rue de Verneuil
75007 Paris
