When Picasso's 5,000-lb. array of bronze Bathers arrived in Houston last week. Museum of Fine Arts Director James Johnson Sweeney took an anxious look around the museum's Mies van der Rohe-designed Cullinan Hall, wondering where to put them. Then Sweeney, who used to run various museums on the East Coast, recalled that he was in Texas and quickly built a swimming pool for The Bathers' ponderous plunge.
Now Picasso's lady diver stands poised and suspenseful on a sturdy diving board, a child bather lurks in water up to his chest, and the four remaining figures idle at poolside. like beach bums...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
