Nearly 40 donated works expand the Dallas museum’s Spanish art collection, with several going on display Aug. 23
A major family art collection is giving SMU’s Meadows Museum something it has never had before: an original drawing by Pablo Picasso. The family of Robert and Tina Tonti donated nearly 40 works to the Dallas museum, significantly expanding its collection of Spanish art.
The gift includes Picasso’s 1963 Tête de femme, the first Picasso drawing to enter the museum’s collection, along with 15 of his ceramic works and the linocut Grande tête de femme.
The donation also brings the Meadows Museum its first works by Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida, including a complete series of 16 woodcuts, as well as four plates from the 1824 first edition of Francisco de Goya’s Los disparates.
Visitors won’t have to wait to see part of the collection. Several of the donated pieces will appear in Picasso Beyond the Canvas, which opened Aug. 23, 2026, at the Meadows Museum.
Picasso Beyond The Paintings
The exhibition focuses on a part of Picasso’s career that can be overshadowed by his paintings and sculptures: his work with clay. Picasso Beyond the Canvas brings together 18 ceramic objects dating from 1953 to 1963, including pieces from the Tonti family gift and other donations. Many will be displayed together publicly for the first time.
“This exhibition invites visitors to see Picasso through a different lens,” Curatorial Assistant Sofia Penny said in an official statement. “Although often overshadowed by his paintings and sculpture, Picasso’s ceramics reveal some of the most inventive and experimental aspects of his artistic practice.”
Picasso began working extensively with ceramics after World War II at the Madoura pottery studio in Vallauris, France. The medium allowed him to combine elements of painting, printmaking and sculpture while creating works that could circulate more widely than his paintings.
Photo: SMU’s Meadows Museum
More Than Picasso
The Tonti family’s gift extends beyond the Meadows Museum. SMU’s Bridwell Library received 33 works on paper by American artist Jasper Johns, spanning more than four decades from 1969 to 2012.
The collection includes lithographs, etchings, aquatints and other prints featuring Johns’ familiar numbers, flags, maps and targets. SMU says the work will provide new opportunities for teaching and research.
Picasso Beyond the Canvas runs Aug. 23, 2026, through Jan. 24, 2027, at the Meadows Museum, 5900 Bishop Blvd. in Dallas. General admission is $12 for adults, $10 for seniors, $4 for non-SMU students and free for visitors 18 and younger, along with Meadows Museum members and SMU faculty, staff and students.
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