At Louvre Abu Dhabi, a new chapter in modern art unfolds with “Picasso, the Figure,” a landmark exhibition dedicated to the enduring fascination of Pablo Picasso with the human body. Spanning nearly seven decades of artistic production, the show repositions Picasso not only as a revolutionary modernist, but fundamentally as a painter of the human form.

Bringing together 130 works in collaboration with the Musée National Picasso-Paris, the exhibition traces Picasso’s evolving language — from early Cubist distortions to neoclassical portraits, surrealist experimentations and the bold expressiveness of his late paintings. Throughout political turmoil, personal reinvention and radical stylistic shifts, the human figure remained his constant subject.

What makes this exhibition particularly compelling is its dialogue with the Arab world. Works by modern Arab artists such as Dia al-Azzawi, Jewad Selim, and Baya Mahieddine highlight how Picasso’s visual language resonated far beyond Europe. A powerful curatorial moment juxtaposes Dora Maar’s documentation of Guernica with Al-Azzawi’s politically charged works, underscoring art’s enduring role as witness and resistance.

Structured across five thematic sections, the exhibition reveals how African and Oceanic influences, mythology and sculpture shaped Picasso’s radical simplifications of the body — redefining figuration in the 20th century.

On view until May 31, this exhibition is more than a retrospective; it is a meditation on how the human body becomes a site of transformation, memory and meaning.