Picasso Art Article

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CUBISM COMES FULL CIRCLE "You can try anything in painting. You even have a right to, provided you never do it again." —Pablo Picasso Picasso became fascinated with dance and theater in 1917, when he was invited to design sets and costumes for the Ballet Russes (ba-LEY roos)—the most important dance company of the day. Picasso hated being tied down to any one style. Working in another medium gave him a chance to experiment with new techniques. Collage had also opened up a world of new possibilities. The flatness of the cut-out shapes inspired Picasso to simplify his compostions. The bright colors and patterns of different kinds of paper inspired him to rein- troduce color and pattern into his paintings. Pierrot and Harlequin (pye-RO and HAR-luh-quin) (pages 8—9), which Picasso painted in 1920, and Three Musicians (left), painted in 1921, show the influence of working with both the Ballet Russes and collage. In both paintings, Pierrot and Harlequin, traditional theater characters, are seen from a frontal point of view and placed in spaces that resemble a shallow stage set. Like Picasso's collages, these paintings have no modeling, perspective, or depth. They are simpler and more colorful than Pica- A "You work with few colors. But they seem like a lot more when each one is in the right place." -Pablo Picasso Three Musicians, Fontainebleau, summer 1921. Oil on canvas, 6' 7" x 7' 3 3/4". Mrs, Simon Guggenheim Fund. (55.1949) The Museum ol Modern Art, New York, NY, U.S.A. Photo Credit: Digital Image ©The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY. © 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. K "Different motives inevitably require different methods of expression." -Pablo Picasso Weeping Woman [Femme en pleursj, 1937. Oil on canvas. 60.8 x 50.0 cm., Tate Gallery, London, Great Britain. Photo Credit: Tate, London / Art Resource, NY. © 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. 6 SCHOLASTIC ART • 2009
•4 What Cubist elements can you find in this 1969 work? G'sa! Heads, March 16,1969. Oil on canvas, 194.5 x 129 cm., The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia / The Bridgeman Art Library. ® 2009 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. sso's earlier Cubist paintings. In them, flat, solid shapes interlock like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and broad organic curves produce a sense of movement. In Three \iusicians, Pierrot holds a wind instrument, while Harlequin holds a guitar and a third character, a bearded monk, holds a piece of sheet music. The musicians' distorted bodies give them distinct personalities. The interaction between positive shapes and negative space creates a sense of visual rhythm that hints at the musical rhythm of the song the musicians are playing. Throughout his life, which spanned nearly a century until his death in 1973, Picasso never stopped creating art or looking for new ways to express himself. His work also reflected the troubled times he lived in. In 1936, a civil war broke out in Spain between the Spanish Republican government and forces led by General Francisco Franco. Franco's forces were supported by the brutal German dictator Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. In 1937, German planes flew over the Spanish city of Guernica (GWAIR-ni-kuh). For three hours they released bombs over the city, killing between 250 and 1,600 civilians and reducing the buildings to rubble. That year, Picasso painted Weeping Woman (opposite page, right), a work that reflects his sorrow over the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. The painting combines Cubist elements, like multiple viewpoints with the distortions used in Three Musicians. Angular shapes, clashing color opposites (yellow/purple, red/ green) and repeated, slashing brushstrokes create a sense of unrest and emotional anguish. In 1939, General Franco's victory in Spain gave Hitler the confidence to invade Poland, an invasion that started World War II (1939- 1945). Picasso was living in Paris during the Spanish Civil War, so his life had not been directly affected by it. But in 1940, the Germans invaded Paris and controlled it until 1944. The Nazis made these four years very hard for Picasso. They considered him an enemy because he made art that denounced Hitler. Nazi officers sometimes came to Picasso's studio to question him. One of them searched the studio and found a photograph of Guernica taken after the German bombing. "Did you do this?" he asked. "No," Picasso answered, "you did." In 1944, when American, British, and Russian forces liberated Paris, the sounds of their gunfights with Nazi soldiers rang through the streets surrounding Picasso's studio. Picasso continued to paint during these battles, singing to himself to drown out the noise. Through the turmoil of war and until the end of his life, he never stopped making art. Picasso painted Great Heads (top) when he was in his late 80s. This work shows Cubist influence: both heads are seen simultaneously from frontal and profile points of view. But Picasso has applied paint by dripping or squirting it onto the canvas, or by using his brush to lay down paint in thick layers and loose strokes. Jagged lines contrast with swirling lines. Shapes overlap and dissolve. All of these techniques were invented by a new generation of artists who had been inspired by Picasso's experiments. Picasso, in turn, experimented with techniques invented by these artists. The Cubist revolution had come full circle. MARCH 2009 • SCHOLASTIC ART 7
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