Andy Warhol Pablo Picasso Jasper Johns Max Weber Roy Lichtenstein Claes Oldenburg Tom Wesselmann Arthur Dove

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This landmark exhibition, 10 years in the making, celebrates the artist’s dramatic impact on the course of 20th-century American art. Although Picasso never set foot in America, many of this country’s most important artists saw him as the central figure of Modern art and defined their own achievements through their absorption or critique of his example.

The exhibition at the Whitney focuses on the nine American artists who have been most deeply engaged with Picasso’s work and who, in turn, have made the most significant contributions to the art of their time: Stuart Davis, William de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, John Graham, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, David Smith and Max Weber.

In addition, the exhibition includes works by other American artists inspired by Picasso, among them Louise Bourgeois, Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, Lee Krasner, Claes Oldenburg, Man Ray, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann.

“Picasso and American Art” also gathers together specific Picasso works that were studied by the nine featured artists. The works are displayed together, illustrating how American artists used Picasso’s example to push the boundaries of their own work.

Among the works that have never before been exhibited publicly in the United States are Picasso’s Still Life; Louise Bourgeois’ Untitled; Jasper Johns’ After Picasso, Pyre and Pyre II; and several more Johns drawings. Other works have not been seen here for decades.

“Picasso and American Art” investigates Picasso’s powerful pull on many this country’s artists,” said Adam D. Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown director of the Whitney. “Clearly, Picasso was seen as a force to be reckoned with.”