Earthshaking

Two momentous events occurred in 1906 — San Francisco was ripped apart by an earthquake and Pablo Picasso “discovered” photography. The former event, of course, has entered the history books; the latter, however, has been treated hitherto as a mere footnote to a great painter’s development as an iconic artist.

No more. A box camera that once belonged to Picasso has been unearthed with a roll of undeveloped film still inside. The resulting photographs — intriguing images made jagged and more forceful by the accidental marring of the lens by the camera’s previous owner — now lend a sharper clarity to that period when Picasso was still coming to terms with the then revolutionary discipline of cubism.

The Museum of New Art is greeting the New Year with an entire show devoted to Picasso’s Camera and I’ll be hard put to think of any forthcoming exhibit that will be able to top it.

PLEASE check it out before Feb. 25.

Turn to detroitmona.com or call 248.210.7560.

MONA is located at 7 N. Saginaw in Pontiac.