The AGO is set to bring the first major Pablo Picasso exhibit to Toronto in almost 50 years. Composed of works from the permanent collection of MusĂŠe National Picasso in Paris, the show is currently on an international tour due to renovations at the works' home museum, which is expected to extend through next year. Currently in San Francisco, the retrospective has also made stops in Madrid, Helsinki, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Seattle, and Richmond (Virginia). It'll make a stop in Sydney before opening in Toronto on April 28, 2012, at which point it'll run until late August.

As a retrospective, the exhibit will feature work in variety of genres and styles. In addition to paintings and sculpture, there will be a significant collection of drawings and prints on display. Many of these were once a part of Picasso's own collection, which he donated to the MusĂŠe National Picasso.

When it arrives, the Picasso retrospective will mark the third major international exhibit the AGO has hosted in the space of a year. But as popular as Abstract Expressionist New York has been and Chagall and the Russian Avant-Garde is bound to be, the Picasso works are sure to bring out the most visitors. According to the Star, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts witnessed 230,000 visitors during the exhibit's three-month run.

The Toronto iteration should easily beat that. So get ready for some big line-ups, but also a rare opportunity to see a Picasso retrospective on local turf.

Lead image of Two Women Running on a Beach (1922)