Contribution to Arts of Pablo Picasso - Essay Example

? PABLO PICASSO There are very few people in this world who are recognized globally for their contribution to arts, and Pablo Picasso is a legend whose name stands out for his phenomenal impact on arts. Picasso is recognized as the most influential and creative artist of the twentieth century. A Spanish by birth, and ably led by his father who was an art-teacher, Picasso prospered and proved himself as gifted. Picasso manifested his creativity in various areas of arts, and proved himself to be an able painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer. Born in 1881, he lived for 91 years, and devoted himself to artistic production. Picasso is most renowned for co-founding the Cubism movement along with Brasque. The 1800’s were marked with astounding impressionist paintings, but enter twentieth century, and the artwork is completely different with more focus on adding great depth to objects by breaking them up and rejoining in an abstract form. The whole concept of Cubism is analyzing objects from every angle, giving a holistic view, and being able to penetrate every reality and then depicting the entire thought in a very artistic abstract way. “Ambiguous Spacing” (Mallory, 2011) is the main characteristic of Cubist paintings, where the background blends with the object. Picasso went through some different phases in his life, and experimented with different kinds of styles which is reflected in his artwork and they are divided into different stages. The first period was identified as the Blue period which lasted from 1901 to 1904, and was highlighted with subdued colors. Next was the Rose Period from 1904 to 1906 which has a cheery style with red, pink and orange colors seen in his paintings. Following this was Analytical Cubism from 1910 to 1912 where he used monochrome brown and more of neutral colors. Synthetic Cubism followed which was reflected in his paintings from 1912 to 1919, and was symbolized by fragmented paper cut style paintings. Classicism and surrealism was also later reflected in his paintings, however it wasn’t a period of his life. Pablo Picasso is known to have produced around 13500 paintings in his entire lifetime, and even more drawings. In 1903, when Picasso was only 21 years of age, he painted “The Old Guitarist” in Madrid, when his very close and dear friend, Casagemas committed suicide. Picasso’s outpour of emotions is reflected in his painting, so much so that this led to the beginning of the Blue Period which was highlighted by hopelessness and melancholy is his paintings which were usually in shades of blue and green. This particular painting of Picasso haunts the onlookers with its gloominess; the subject of the painting is a very old, weak man, who somehow resembles a beggar sitting on the street begging for pennies while glued to his guitar. The painting has a lot of emphasis on the contours of the body of the old man giving a very dramatic look. This painting speaks for the lower-class people and emphasizes on the hardships they have to face in real-life, and is a masterpiece created by Picasso. Another painting of Picasso which later became a masterpiece is Les Demoiselles d' Avignon ((The Young Ladies of Avignon, and originally titled The Brothel of Avignon) and is known to have launched Cubism in the twentieth century. Picasso painted it in 1907, however it wasn’t displayed till 1916. This painting has also been voted as the most influential painting in a hundred years by Newsweek. It is a very artful painting which was also controversial, however it depicts Cubism in essence that different people have different perspectives regarding the same artwork. The painting illustrates five nude women in angular and disorderly shapes, with not very feminine bodies, and two wearing primitive African masks. The concept behind this painting was to depict a brothel, where the women were shown without any expressions, charm or personality. The disjointed figures were to represent the aggression and hostility of the such women, who had Iberian features. This painting also uses “shallow ambiguous space” concept where the background appears as bright as the painting. The Girl with a Mandolin was painted by Picasso in 1910, and it marks the analytic cubism period “In this period, they removed bright colors from their compositions, favoring monochromatic earth tones so that they could focus primarily on the structure.”(Urton, 2011) In Analytic Cubism, separate objects were taken and analyzed on the basis of their shape. This painting depicts a girl holding a mandolin, and every part has been painted in cubical structures besides the eyes, breasts, mandolin and hair, giving more depth to all facets. Also the background is merged with the prime focus of the painting, a characteristic of the Cubist paintings. Of his famous works, Guernica was painted by him in 1937, and he was commissioned to paint that by the Spanish Republican Government after the Spanish civil war of 1937. His painting depicts the terrors of a war, and there are many human like figures seen in the painting trying to highlight the suffering of the innocent civilians who become the main victims. The name “Guernica” is that of an actual town in Basque Country, Spain. During a grueling civil war, Guernica was the target of atrocities, and Picasso depicted the war like conditions in an astounding abstract way, using many signs which led to make this painting an anti-war symbol. This painting itself is symbolic showing the people being tormented and shrieking in pain, broken swords representing the defeat at the hands of tyrants, broken windows showing the magnitude of damage that occurred in Guernica. This painting captured international attention, which was perhaps the main purpose to bring the world’s attention to the gruesome Spanish civil war. Picasso is undoubtedly the most prolific artisan of the twentieth century who produced a masterpiece even when drawing four lines. He was inspirational and influenced many artists of today and his own time giving birth to modern arts. He was bold, and faced a lot of criticism during his lifetime but this did not affect his spirit, neither did it falter his efficacy and thus he went on to revolutionize arts with vanity. Works cited Mallory, T. (2011, 10 27). Huff Post Arts. Retrieved 11 14, 2011, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-mallory/pablo-picasso-in-architec_b_1015532.html Plagens, P. (n.d.). Which Is the Most Influential Work of Art Of the Last Years? Retrieved 11 10, 2011, from Newsweek: www.newsweekeurope.com Urton, R. (n.d.). Robin Urton: original paintings, prints, & pendants. Retrieved 11 13, 2011, from Eyeconart: Cubism: from http://www.robinurton.com/history/cubism.htm Read More