Vancouver’s arts enthusiasts are in for a treat at the Vancouver Art Gallery, as it introduces Picasso: The Artist and His Muses, from 11 June to 2 October 2016. As the hotel partner for this milestone exhibition, Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver is celebrating Picasso’s bold innovations, and similar to the exhibition, looking beyond the artist to the six women who influenced his life and art. The hotel is presenting a series of inspired dinner tasting menus at Market by Jean-Georges, titled The Muses Dinner, and is introducing a new accommodation package for travellers looking to explore Vancouver’s vibrant arts scene.

Guests are invited to take a journey through the lives and personalities of six women, Fernande Olivier, Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot and Jacqueline Roque, who were all major figures in Picasso’s personal life and strongly influenced the development of his art. 

Beginning with one of Picasso’s great loves, the first tasting menu in The Muses Dinner series is influenced by Fernande Olivier. Olivier was the only muse associated with two major artistic developments in Picasso’s work: the soft depictions of the Rose Period and the comparatively harsher and more innovative Cubism. Standout dishes on this tasting menu are the Foie Gras Terrine with Preserved Hibiscus Flower. Louis the XIII Cognac is used to luxuriously cure the Rougié foie gras for seven days, which is complemented with preserved hibiscus flowers and cubed brioche croutons. Other dishes include a Pan-Seared Halibut, Confit Fennel and Leeks, with Saffron and Absinthe Beurre Blanc. Absinthe is famously known as being Picasso’s drink of choice.

The Muses Dinner series will run throughout the course of the exhibition, with each menu focusing on the muse and her influence on that period of Picasso’s work:

11 June to 29 June | Fernande Olivier | From the Rose Period to Cubism

30 June to 20 July | Olga Khokhlova | Neoclassisicm and Maternité

21 July to 10 August | Marie-Thérèse Walter | A Surrealist Affair

11 August to 31 August | Dora Maar | Love and War

1 September to 21 September | Françoise Gilot | Woman-Flower

22 September to 2 October | Jacqueline Roque | From Villa Californie to Mougins

The Muses Dinner will be available daily from 5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., for CAD $110 per person. For those that wish to visit the exhibition first-hand, guests can choose to add on an express-entry ticket to Picasso: The Artist and His Muses, with a dinner package forCAD $128 per person.

For those looking to spend the night in Vancouver, Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver is also introducing a hotel package, Cultural Vancouver, which offers overnight accommodation in spacious, contemporary guest rooms and suites, valet parking, two express-entry tickets to Picasso: The Artist and His Muses exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, plus 15 per cent savings at the Gallery Store.

The Cultural Vancouver package is available from 1 June 2016. Prices start at CAD $395 per person (offer is valid for two persons minimum). For more information and to reserve, call (604) 689-1120, or book online by clicking ‘Room Reservations’ at www.shangri-la.com/vancouver.