Pablo Picasso Essay -- Essays Papers

Pablo Picasso Yet Cubism and Modern art werent either scientific or intellectual they were visual and came from the eye and head word of one of the greatest geniuses in art history. Pablo Picasso, born in Spain, was a child prodigy who was recognized as such by his art-teacher father who capably led him along. The small Museo de Picasso in Barcelona is devoted primarily to his early works, which include strikingly realistic r give noticeerings of casts of ancient sculpture. He was a rebel from the start and, as a teenager, began to frequent the Barcelona cafes where intellectuals gathered. He soon went to Paris, the capital of art, and soaked up the works of Manet, Gustave Courbet, and Toulouse-Lautrec, whose sketchy fashion impressed him greatly. Then it was back to Spain, a rescue to France, and again back to Spain - all in the years 1899 to 1904. Before he struck upon Cubism, Picasso went through a prodigious number of styles - realism, caricature, the profane Period, and th e Rose Period. The Blue Period dates from 1901 to 1904 and is characterized by a predominantly blue palette and subjects focusing on outcasts, beggars, and prostitutes. This was when he also produced his first sculptures. The most poignant work of the style is in Clevelands Museum of Art, La Vie (1903), that was created in memory of a great childhood friend, the Spanish poet Casagemas, who had committed suicide. The painting started as a self-portrait, but Picassos features became those of his wooly friend. The composition is stilted, the space compressed, the gestures stiff, and the tones predominantly blue. Another outstanding Blue Period work, of 1903, is in the Metropolitan, The Blind Mans Meal. Yet another example, perhaps the most lyrical and swarthy ever, is in the Toledo Museum of Art, the haunting Woman with a Crow (1903). The Rose Period began around 1904 when Picassos palette brightened, the paintings dominated by pinks and beige, light blues, and roses. His subjects ar e saltimbanques (circus people), harlequins, and clowns, all of whom come along to be mute and strangely inactive. One of the premier works of this period is in Washington, D.C., the National Gallerys large and extremely beautiful Family of Saltimbanques dating to 1905, which portrays a throng of circus workers who appear alienated and incapable of communicating with each other, set in a one-dimensional space... ...ods. This paperback version is the smarter buy. Also available A Life of Picasso Volume II, 1907-1917, which covers the critical Cubist Period. Picasso The Early Years 1892-1906 This is the catalog to the blockbuster show of 1997, featuring the Blue and Rose Periods. The graphics are of exceptional quality, and the consecutive essays are enlightening, focusing on less well-known aspects of this period of Picassos career. Picasso and Portraiture Representation and Transformation William Rubin (Editor), Anne Baldassari, Pierre Daix This is the catalog to the blockbust er show of 1996, featuring portraits from the beginning to end of Picassos long career. The graphics are again of exceptional quality. Rubins essay in particular is critical in art historical writing on the Spanish master. Picassos Variations on the Masters Confrontations With the Past Susan Grace Galassi This is an extremely interesting look at Picassos series paintings based on masterworks from the past, from Velazquez to Delacroix to Manet. It was as if he could not chance on sufficient competition among contemporary artists, and looked to outdo the masters of the past in their own works.