Did you know Picasso dedicated a larger portion of his career to sculpting? As an art lover, I’m disappointed to say I didn’t. Recently, the Hispanic Studies Department went to see an exhibit of his sculptures at the MoMa in New York City. It spanned several rooms as each was dedicated to a certain period in his life. What stuck out to me most was the diversity of his work. The rooms varied greatly between material and subject matter. We traveled through his early works, which were heavily influenced by African figures and made from wood and bronze, to his somber period during World War II; to a reinvigoration of somewhat erotic plaster faces and bodies inspired by his lover, to metal and cardboard cubist sculptures. It was quite the journey.

Chatting with our professors along the way in Spanish, my peers and I got to see a side of Picasso we didn’t know existed. He’s so well-known for his paintings that I’ve only ever seen him in two dimensions. Interestingly, he really played with this. There were some sculptures that looked just like paintings. His forms played with light and shadow that could trick the eye. For someone who has studied some of his paintings in the past, it was a really interesting trip. Next weekend, I’m headed to the Met with the Art Department to see a drawing exhibition and can’t wait to immerse myself back into art and New York City.