Genius: Picasso

National Geographic Premieres 2nd Season of Acclaimed Anthology Series.

Starring Antonio Banderas and Alex Rich in the joint role of Pablo Picasso, this 10-Episode Series hails from Fox 21 Television Studios and Imagine Television and is executive produced by Academy Award Winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, with a feature length Premiere on 22 April 2018.

Clémence Poésy, Robert Sheehan, Poppy Delevingne and Aisling Franciosi feature alongside returning cast from season one, Samantha Colley, with appearances by T.R. Knight, Seth Gabel and Johnny Flynn.

Few painters have been as awe-inspiringly prolific as Pablo Picasso. One of the most influential and celebrated artists of the 20th century, his career spanned more than 80 of his 91 years, during which time he produced an estimated 50,000 works. His passionate nature and relentless creative drive were inextricably linked to his personal life, which included tumultuous marriages, numerous affairs and ever-shifting political and personal alliances. Constantly reinventing himself, Picasso always strove to innovate and push the boundaries of artistic expression, leading to his worldwide renown as a genius.

Premiering on 22 April 2018 at 20h05, the second season of National Geographic’s Emmy-, Golden Globe-, and Screen Actor’s Guild Award-nominated 10-part global event series, Genius: Picasso, explores the Spanish expatriate’s devotion to his craft, his contribution to modern art and his turbulent personal life. The new season, from Fox 21 Television Studios, is executive produced by Brian Grazerand Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, MWM Studios and EUE/Sokolow Entertainment. Showrunner, executive producer, writer and director Ken Biller also returns.

Antonio Banderas brings to life the artistic career of the titular artist: Pablo Picasso. Joining him as the younger Pablo is Alex Rich, who rejects academic study and joins the circle of young bohemian artists and writers struggling to make it in early 20th century Spain and France.

Clémence Poésy portrays Françoise Gilot, a French painter and best-selling author whose decade-long affair with Picasso yielded two children.  Sebastian Roché is Emile Gilot, Francoise’s tyrannical father. Robert Sheehan plays Carles Casagemas, Poppy Delevingne portrays Marie-Thérèse Walter, and Aisling Franciosi of Game of Thrones, acts as Fernande Olivier, a French artist and model, of whom Picasso painted more than 60 portraits.

Returnig to the Genius Series, is Samantha Colley, who will play Dora Maar, a French photographer and painter who was also Picasso’s lover and muse.  Grey’s Anatomy’s T.R. Knight will play Max Jacob, with Seth Gabel and Joghnny Flynn in the roles of Guillaume Apollinaire and Alain Cuny respectively.

The second season of the acclaimed series began production in 2017, filming in many locations where Picasso himself once lived and worked. This included a three-day shoot in Málaga, Spain — birthplace of both Picasso and Banderas — where production filmed in the same house in which Picasso was born, the church where he was baptised and the bullring where he found much inspiration in his youth.

Genius: Picasso is executive produced by Imagine’s Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Francie Calfo, and co-produced by Anna Culp; showrunner, executive producer, writer and director is Ken Biller. From MWM Studios, Gigi Pritzker and Rachel Shane are executive producers and Melissa Rucker is co-producer. Sam Sokolow and Jeff Cooney from EUE/Sokolow Entertainment are also executive producers. For National Geographic, Carolyn G. Bernstein is executive vice president and head of global scripted development and production. The series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios, Imagine Television and MWM Studios.

 

Genius, Season 2, (10 episodes) starts 22 April 2018 on National Geographic, at 20h05, and will premiere with a double bill.