Morristown, NJ - The Morris Museum presents artist Neil Jenney’s unique take on the works of Pablo Picasso alongside lithographs from the museum’s permanent collection. An examination of the artistic practice of interpretation in furthering an idea, the exhibition Neil Jenney / Pablo Picasso tells Jenney’s story while also uncovering his collaboration with the late portrait painter Ki-young Sung with whom he worked on this project. The exhibition includes five of Jenney’s “Improved Picassos” that have never been seen outside his Soho studio.  

In 2010, sculptor and painter Neil Jenney (b. 1945) commissioned Ki-young Sung (1937-2020), to create painted renditions after reproductions of paintings by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Sung had trained as a painter in Seoul (South Korea), and for many years worked in New York City replicating personal photos into painted portraits. Jenney first met him after walking past his studio and seeing a Picasso copy in the window. Sung’s paintings were then retouched and altered by Jenney, who also built them new frames. The resulting body of work he titled “Improved Picassos.”   

Juxtaposed with the Jenney works are four lithographs from 1967 La Flûte Double, which reproduce watercolors by Picasso dating from 1930s through the 1950s. These lithographs exemplify the close relationship between creativity and widespread accessibility. Just as this portfolio is a riff on Picasso’s incredible pictorial range, Jenney’s works honor the original image by playing with its presentation.  

About Neil Jenney 

A maverick of twentieth-century American art, Neil Jenney pursues realism as a style and a philosophy. Mostly self-taught, he attended the Massachusetts College of Art in 1964 and moved to New York in 1966, where he has lived and worked since. His works have been shown at institutions including The Museum of Modern Art (New York), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York), The Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington), The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles) and The Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles).  

About Pablo Picasso and La Flûte Double portfolio 

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, and one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. He is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for his innovative approach to form, perspective, and artistic expression. La Flûte Double was created as a portfolio of 15 lithographs reprising Picasso's earlier watercolors accompanied by a text by Hélène Parmelin (1915-1998) one of France's leading Mid-Century novelists and art critics. Published in an edition of 500 by Au Vent D'Arles in Saint-Paul-de-Vence (Provence, France) the portfolio is known worldwide.