Review: Picasso & Sylvette

Lydia Corbett, previously Sylvette, is a French woman who used to model for Pablo Picasso back in the 1950s. At 19 years old and stunningly beautiful, she was Picasso’s muse back in the small, French village of Vallauris and became the subject of a number of Picasso’s most famous works.

So? Well, Lydia came to the National Portrait Gallery last night to share some stories with a select few about her time spent with the iconic artist and I was lucky enough to attend. The talk, which lasted a little over an hour, was a fun, informal chat between Lydia and the curator of the hugely impressive Picasso exhibition currently on show at the gallery.

Lydia shared numerous very funny anecdotes about Picasso’s playful and kind nature whilst various portraits were flashed up on the screen to induce a nostalgic look at this period of her life. She would gaze at one of the portraits or photos onscreen before launching into a heart-warming, charming daydream of happy moments she spent with Pablo. What was amazing was the personal, intimate insight we were given into the life of this wonderful artist, the anecdotes brought him to life and gave us a true idea of what he was actually like as a person. Whether it was scaring Lydia with a knife to help her get rid of her hiccups, or his relentless, thick Spanish accent that made his French so difficult to understand, or the artistic gifts he used to give her, we were introduced to the human, real side of Pablo Picasso, something so rare and so special to be a part of.

The two clearly had a very close relationship, although Lydia was quick to confirm this wasn’t a love affair, and one which was so important to Picasso at this relatively sad moment of his life after his breakup with his wife. When asked why Picasso chose her, Lydia’s funny, quirky personality shone through as she giggled (as she did throughout the talk) and told us that her friend was actually more beautiful than her so she really has no idea why Picasso chose her. She did go on to speculate that she was a very quiet, innocent young girl and that it was perhaps this innocence that drew Picasso to her as a muse, as well as her beauty of course. When asked, Lydia laughed and even confirmed her beauty had inspired Brigitte Bardot to dye her hair blonde.

She went on to explain how she used to model for him; sitting in a world of her own just gazing over the beautiful landscapes of Vallauris and smoking away nonchalantly blowing smoke into the air; Picasso would pile a table high with cigarettes for her each time she came over. Did they talk much? Well, they didn’t really talk much whilst Picasso worked, he liked to be in silence with just the sounds of the cicadas to help him concentrate, but when the sketches had been put aside he did used to delve into stories of his childhood as well as random, creative stories that used to come from his simply incredible imagination.

Lydia was mad as a hatter, in an amazingly endearing way, and still holds huge love and admiration for the artist. When we caught a glimpse of her own work at the end of the talk, Picasso’s influence was startlingly clear and it was fascinating to see this lasting effect on her professional work.

All in all, it was an utterly fantastic talk, one that taught us so much about this genius of a man in a way impossible to achieve through a textbook. An intimate, personal look at the funny, childish and playful personality that was Pablo Picasso.