The video above is of Picasso drawing on a very large white piece of white paper or canvas. An artist is truly magical when creating art. Picasso has experimented with many styles, often being called the Founder of Cubism, but one of my favorite styles is that for which The Dove of Peace was created. The video is of Pablo Picasso drawing in that same style.
There is a consistent theme throughout Picasso’s paintings: women. Picasso is not only known for his paintings of women in many forms – cubism and realism alike – but also for his real life womanizing. An examination of the women in Picasso’s life can be done by a close look at his paintings over the years.
1904-1912
Muse #1: Fernande Olivier
Olivier was Picasso’s first long term relationship lasting over 7 years.
1912-1915
Muse #2: Eva Gouel
Eva Gouel died in 1915 at the age of thirty of tuberculosis, leaving Picasso to profess his love for her by painting “I Love Eva” in some of his paintings.
1917-1927
Muse #3: Olga Khokhlova
Olga is Picasso’s first wife and the mother of his first child, Paulo, born in 1921.
1927-1936
Muse #4: Marie-Therese Walter
Marie is the mother of Picasso’s second child, Maya, born in 1935. Picasso met and dated Marie while still married to Olga.
1936-1944
Muse #5: Dora Maar
Dora was a photographer who documented Picasso’s painting of Guernica.
1943-1953
Muse #6: Francoise Gilot
Francoise is the mother of two more of Picasso’s children: Claude, born in 1947, and Paloma, born in 1949.
1951-1953
Muse #7: Genevieve Laporte
Genevieve began her affair with Picasso when she was 17 and he 70. Her affair continued until 1953 when she ultimately ended the relationship the same time as his other girlfriend, Francoise.
1953-1973
Muse #7: Jacqueline Roque
Jacqueline became Picasso’s second wife in 1961. Picasso painted more images of Jacqueline than any other woman he had been with.
Reference:
The Women of Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
Saper Galleries
http://sapergalleries.com/PicassoWomen.html
Name: Pablo Ruiz Picasso
Birth: October 25, 1881, Malaga, Spain
Death: April 8, 1973, Mougins France
Parents: father, Jose Ruiz Blasco, and mother, Maria Picasso Lopez
Children: sons, Paulo and Claude and daughters, Maya and Paloma
Notable: Considered by some to be Founder of Cubism
Early Years: Grew up in Spain. Entered into Barcelona’s School of Fine Arts in 1892. First major painting debuted in 1896 – “The First Communion.” Caught scarlet fever in 1898.
Famous Works: Guernica, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, The Old Guitarist, Three Musicians, Garcon a la pipe
Quote:
“Everyone wants to understand art. Why don’t we try to understand the song of a bird? Why do we love the night, the flowers, everything around us, without trying to understand them? But in the case of a painting, people think they have to understand. If only they would realize above all that an artist works of necessity, that he himself is only an insignificant part of the world, and that no more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things which please us in the world though we can’t explain them; people who try to explain pictures are usually barking up the wrong tree.” - Picasso
Reference:
The Art History Archive – Cubism http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/cubism/Pablo-Picasso.html
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known asPablo Ruiz Picasso 25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor who lived most of his life in France. He is widely known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence; during the first decade of the 20th century his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal renown and immense fortune, making him one of the best-known figures in 20th century art.Picasso made his first trip to Paris in 1900, then the art capital of Europe. There, he met his first Parisian friend, the journalist and poet Max Jacob, who helped Picasso learn the language and its literature. Soon they shared an apartment; Max slept at night while Picasso slept during the day and worked at night. These were times of severe poverty, cold, and desperation. Much of his work was burned to keep the small room warm. During the first five months of 1901, Picasso lived in Madrid, where he and his anarchist friend Francisco de Asís Soler founded the magazine Arte Joven (Young Art), which published five issues. Soler solicited articles and Picasso illustrated the journal, mostly contributing grim cartoons depicting and sympathizing with the state of the poor. The first issue was published on 31 March 1901, by which time the artist had started to sign his work simply Picasso, while before he had signed Pablo Ruiz y Picasso.By 1905 Picasso became a favorite of the American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein. Their older brother Michael Stein and his wife Sarah also became collectors of his work. Picasso painted portraits of both Gertrude Stein and her nephew Allan Stein.Gertrude Stein became Picasso’s principal patron, acquiring his drawings and paintings and exhibiting them in her informal Salon at her home in Paris.At one of her gatherings in 1905, he met Henri Matisse, who was to become a lifelong friend and rival. The Steins introduced him to Claribel Cone and her sister Etta who were American art collectors; they also began to acquire Picasso and Matisse’s paintings. Eventually Leo Stein moved to Italy, and Michael and Sarah Stein became patrons of Matisse; while Gertrude Stein continued to collect Picasso.
Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, 1910, The Art Institute of Chicago. Picasso wrote of Kahnweiler What would have become of us if Kahnweiler hadn’t had a business sense?
In 1907 Picasso joined an art gallery that had recently been opened in Paris by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. Kahnweiler was a German art historian, art collector who became one of the premier French art dealers of the 20th century. He was among the first champions of Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and the Cubism that they jointly developed. Kahnweiler promoted burgeoning artists such asAndré Derain, Kees Van Dongen, Fernand Léger, Juan Gris, Maurice de Vlaminck and several others who had come from all over the globe to live and work in Montparnasse at the time.In Paris, Picasso entertained a distinguished coterie of friends in the Montmartre and Montparnasse quarters, including André Breton, poet Guillaume Apollinaire, writer Alfred Jarry, and Gertrude Stein. Apollinaire was arrested on suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911. Apollinaire pointed to his friend Picasso, who was also brought in for questioning, but both were later exonerated.
References:
“James R. Mellow.” Charmed Circle: <www.wikipedia.com>
