Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881 – 1973) – is an iconic figure in the art of the 20th century. He made his way from academic training to the most progressive painting movements. It is customary to sing the praises of Picasso and praise everything he did. However, Pablo Picasso, like any other person, had his positive and negative sides. He had good and bad phases of work, he was not always understood during his life.
Pablo Picasso was famous for his high-profile love relationships, and the tragic fate of women who were destined to spend some time with the artist deserves a separate investigation. It is worth noting that many articles have been written about his romantic relationships. And Picasso was a communist. Although, living in Paris and resisting fascism, he probably did not imagine that things were not more humane in the communist camp. But the artist gained the status of a genius during his lifetime thanks to his paintings. And Picasso left behind more than 80,000 creative works (including drawings, sketches, ceramics, illustrations).
«Guernica» (1937) is the artist’s response to the Nazi bombing of the Basque city of the same name. The Basques wanted to take advantage of the historic chance for independence, but Madrid did not want to lose the lands. Thanks to the agreement with Hitler, Guernica was literally razed to the ground. It was the first large-scale aerial bombardment in history. Hundreds of bombs were dropped on the small town during three hours of targeted bombing.
Picasso opposed this as only an artist could – by painting a large-scale painting of 3.4 x 7.8 meters in the style of cubism. The colossal art work was written in less than a month. Literally no one understood his approach, not even Georges Braque, who shared the principles of Cubism. Friends and colleagues were convinced that Pablo was not in his right mind. But where is there? During the Second World War, numerous reproductions of this art work were a symbol of the anti-fascist struggle.
Terrible images of screaming women, heads of horses and bulls, a woman carrying a dead child, lamps that give rise to terrible associations… The black and white scale suggests thoughts of newspaper chronicles, and the picture itself is written in such a way that it looks like a giant collage made from newspaper clippings about terrible news. This is a picture of a foreboding of a great war, the image of which was depicted by the artist in his most famous painting.
Another vivid anti-war image is «The Weeping Woman» (1937). The canvas in the style of analytical cubism is one of many on the subject of women’s tears. A woman with tears in her eyes and a handkerchief is written from different angles, which are superimposed on each other. The image is flat, like a collage. The artist uses bright colors emphasizing green, white and yellow with a bright accent of a red hat. For some time, this topic was of great interest to the Spaniard, and he actively developed it. The whole series was based on the development of one of the images of Guernica. In this way, the artist wanted to show the horrors of war and express his social position. The model for these female images was Dora Maar, Picasso’s lover at the time.
Guernica and female weeping images were a response to the Spanish Civil War. The anti-war theme will eventually reach Picasso’s creation of the universal symbol of peace – the dove.
Picasso had fans in Paris who bought his paintings. Two Stein families were one of the key patrons. Gertrude Stein herself highly valued the young Spanish artist, acted as his critic and friend. It was «Portrait of Gertrude Stein» that became a super task for the Spaniard, who painted a portrait with lightning speed.
The early period of the artist’s work, when he actively communicated with the Steins, coincided with his Blue period. A tragic family story with the death of a loved one and the suicide of a friend, Carles Casagemas, pushed Picasso into the arms of depression and caused the predominance of blue color in his work. In addition, during this period he was still unknown to anyone and lived on the verge of poverty. «Self-Portrait» (1901) in the Blue Period is an image of the artist who is full of loneliness and hopelessness. The man is depicted in a dark blue, almost black coat on a blue background. Dark hair, coat and background frame a fair face with rich and sharp blue shadows. Undoubtedly, this is one of the strongest works of the artist of this period, on a par with «The Old Guitarist» (1903).
An old, blind, lonely and unhappy musician tightly holds in his hands the last thing he had left – a guitar. The figure is beautifully composed on a rectangular canvas. The guitarist becomes almost one whole with his instrument, and the beautiful contrast of the blue figure of the musician and the warm brown color of the instrument, the cold light color of the face and hands of the guitarist and the warm scale of his guitar. The picture shows the influence of El Greco, whose paintings young Pablo loved very much.
This painting was the first of Picasso’s works, which was acquired by the museum in 1926. It was the Chicago Art Museum. This was the first serious recognition of the artist.
Another picture of this period is a kind of painting textbook – «Girl on the Ball» (1905). A combination of statics and dynamics, large and small, equilibrium and non-equilibrium. All this is in the picture. The monumental figure of the acrobat sitting on the cube and the tiny fragile girl balancing on the ball create a beautiful contrast. The high horizon creates associations with early Renaissance paintings. And the figures of a woman with a child and a dog and a cow in the background balance the whole composition.
Joint creative searches with Georges Braque, a sense of intense competition with Matisse, who creates bold, revolutionary paintings and is followed by a whole generation of young artists, leads Picasso to the most scandalous painting «The girls of Avignon» (1907). Few people appreciated the painting. It is said that Matisse did not like the painting, but in the conditions of fierce competition of two painters, it is difficult to judge the sincerity of mutual reviews of each other’s works.
This painting combines the new style of Cubism, fascination with African masks and an attempt to break the brightness and wildness of the colors of Matisse and the Fauvists. The painting depicts five naked and frankly erotic women, while the artist did not give the women any beautiful features. He painted women from brothels in the Gothic Quarter, which he often visited during the final stages of his relationship with Fernanda Olivier.
In order to understand the revolutionary nature of the painting not only in terms of form and composition, but also in terms of color, one should pay attention to the predominance of bright color trends of the beginning of the 20th century. It all started with the Impressionists, who emphasized color, then avant-garde trends, Fauvism with its wild, bright colors and incredible contrasts. And here, contrary to the general coloristic trend, Picasso paints a painting in monochrome, ocher colors. At the same time, he carefully adds muted pinks and blues to the canvas to emphasize the transition from previous creative periods to a completely new one.
Probably no artist did more for the development of Cubism than Pablo Picasso. This style, which was adopted by the Spaniard from Cézanne, is associated with him. It was the painter from Aix-en-Provence who was the first to take the path of geometry in painting, painting many times Mount Sainte-Victoire and landscapes of local settlements. In general, the figure of Cézanne is absolutely unique and iconic for the creativity of artists of the 20th century, and the influence on Picasso is not an exception, but a regularity.
Another painting from Picasso’s work – «Nude, Green Leaves and Bust» (1932) in 2010 became the most expensive masterpiece sold in the world. The cost of the canvas was 106.482 million dollars. The model for the painting was Picasso’s beloved Marie-Thérèse Walter. She performed in the image of a mythical nymph – Daphne. This painting is one of the many Walter series, which Picasso painted secretly from his wife Olga Khokhlova (who was a ballet dancer from Nizhyn, Ukraine). Walter is depicted next to a bust that Picasso also created of her. In 1936, the New York art dealer Paul Rosenberg, one of the most prominent dealers of the 20th century, bought the painting. In many ways, American museums and collectors owe him a large number of European masterpieces in the American art space.
Another painting from this series, «The Dream» (1932), was painted in almost one day. This painting belongs to Picasso’s distorted depictions period. Maria-Teresa Walter is sitting in a chair with her head tilted to the side, half undressed, keeping her arms folded below the abdomen. At the time of painting, Walter was pregnant by Picasso. The picture is painted in the spirit of surrealism and is one of the most tender female images of this period.
There is one simple ink drawing of 1955 in Picasso’s creative heritage, which became the most recognizable illustration before Cervantes – Don Quixote. These are a few ink spots on a white sheet of paper, which best convey the essence of the iconic story of the Spanish writer. The tall and thin figure of Don Quixote sits on his trusty steed Rocinante. In his hand he holds a spear to fight the windmills that Picasso depicted in the background. Nearby, sitting on a donkey, is the small and stocky Sancho Panza – Don Quixote’s constant assistant.
You can find out more about the work of Picasso and other Cubists and Impressionists at the online lectures of the Lihtaryk art studio. We offer to your attention the course «History of European Art», where we will talk about the connection between primitive art and avant-garde currents of the 20th century.
Also we propose our «History of Art for Children» course, where we tell children about complex art trends in an easy and accessible way.
All lecture programs of the studio are available online. To register, fill out the form on this website or call us.
Do something nice for your loved ones – present a gift certificate for master classes or lectures of the Lihtaryk art studio and you will definitely find another atmospheric place where to go in Kyiv.
У меня синдром Стендаля сегодня. Утром ходили в Падуанский баптистерий. Смотрели фрески Менабуя. А после обеда у нас было посещение каппелы Скровеньи. Теперь я понимаю , что сделал Джотто для мира. Очень меня все это впечатлило в живую. Привет передала.
Мир прекрасен. Падуя очень понравилась:) спасибо за лекции Света!
Lily Golovchak
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