After a record-breaking exhibition at the Grand Palais a couple of years ago, Picasso (at least in name) is helping out a couple of pals again. The exhibition Césaire / Lam / Picasso at the Galéries nationales du Grand Palais probably wouldn’t have quite the same allure without his name, doncha think?

But what is the link between Martinique-born Aimé Fernand David Césaire, Cuban Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla and Pablo Picasso the Spaniard? Read on…Perhaps linking these three names isn’t as desperate as it may first appear.

Lam discovered the work of Picasso while living in Spain at the end of the 1920s before moving on to Paris and meeting the man himself nearly a decade later in 1938. They became friends, and Picasso presented Lam to Matisse, Léger, Braque, Miró, Breton…

As for Césaire, he met Picasso in 1948 in Warsaw during a congress for peace. Two years later, Picasso contributed thirty-two drawings to illustrate  a collection of ten poems by Césaire called “Corps perdus”.
Organised as part of a year celebrating the French overseas territories, the exposition shows the link between the three men, a mixture of poetry, painting and genius.

The exhibition Césaire / Lam / Picasso is at the Grand Palais (here) from 16th March-6th June 2011.

Open every days except Tuesdays from 10am – 8pm (10pm Wednesdays).

Admission: 6€/4€.

Official site: www.grandpalais.fr