The Great Pablo Picasso - Research Paper Example

?Full The Great Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous artists of history, was born as Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso in October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain. His mother was Dona Maria Picasso y Lopez and his father was Don Jose Ruiz Blasco, a painter and art teacher. He was obviously influenced and basically trained by his father and he was known to have entered the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona when his family moved there when he was just fourteen years old. Although he was way too young, he was accepted in the school because of an evidence of a real talent however, he proved to be a genius who easily gets bored with the norms so that he rather became infamous in school, skipping classes only to go out to his neighborhood and delve into the real thing (bio.com). The same happened when he transferred to the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid two years later so that in 1899, as he went around finding the satisfaction he was looking for in expressing himself, he was introduced to El Quatro Gats, The Four Cats, a group of artists which became his inspiration for change. Probably one of the reasons that count Picasso among the greats is his experimentation and adaptation of different and thriving types of art throughout his lifetime. As he was trained by his artist father, his first unpublished works were of Renaissance quality to which he referred to in one of his comments when he was passing by children during his old age, “When I was as old as these children, I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them” (bio.com). This is so because most of his published works look like children’s artworks, seemingly simple and done without some effort of an artist but, expressing mature and serious themes. Modern analysts and critiques now divide the works of Picasso. His artworks from 1901 until 1904 are generally regarded as the Blue Period because most of them hugely make use of the blue tint. One of his works during this period is ‘Blue Nude’ which depicts a nude woman sitting with her back to the audience and head bent, leaning on her knees. The painting defines the image of the woman with a black ink and displays a variety of blue hues within and around the image. Most of Picasso’s subjects during this period are about poverty, isolation and anguish, strengthened probably by his feelings when he lost a dear friend to death (bio.com). This probably explains also the use of the color as blue represents a gloomy mood. Another painting known during this period is ‘The Old Guitarist’ which pictures an old man playing with his guitar. What is eye-catching in this portrait is the loneliness that is expressed by the man, with his head bent, seemingly more concentrated on his feelings than his guitar. The man could be said to be poor as seen by his clothe which is a one piece, long, worn and torn shirt. This depicts poverty and the hardships that go with it. Perhaps the most talked about work during the Blue Period is ‘La Vie’ because it spurred rumors that the subject is Picasso’s friend who committed suicide when he was rejected by his lover (de Kooning). ‘La Vie’ pictures three adults and a baby. The two figures on the left are obviously lovers, naked and holding each other as they seem to be confronted by a fully dressed woman holding a baby. Behind them are portraits of nude images that probably help to tell the story more clearly. Although several interpretations were suggested by art critiques, Picasso himself never offered his own interpretations so that the painter’s reactions add to the mystery and popularity of the painting. As expected, blue is the dominant color, ranging from very light hues to darker ones where the darkest color almost reveals a black tint seen especially on the clothes of the woman holding the baby. When Picasso met Fernande Olivier, a model to whom he fell in love with, Picasso’s works started to show livelier colors and this period is known to be the ‘Rose Period’ of his career (bio.com). ‘Family at Saltimbanques’ is an example of the Rose Period and contrary to the subjects of the ‘Blue Period’, the paining shows more color and a group of people who somehow have a family they call their own, show some socialization and work in a place which is virtually known for merriments, the circus. Also, the setting of the painting is an open area which somehow suggests the changes in Picasso’s personal life, engaging and focusing in livelier activities. Indeed, Picasso was making a name and was making more friends as he continued to discover where he could still bring his talent and thoughts. As he dealt with fellow artists, together with George Braque, Picasso gave birth to cubism (bio.com). His first work on this era is ‘Les Demoiselles d’ Avignon’ where his subjects have distorted faces. Although the painting is about women who usually are portrayed to be beautiful, Picasso experimented on geometric figures on them and his style proved to be an attention-getter as people reacted to such a new, never before seen piece of art. Cubism may not be as beautiful as the works of the Renaissance and romantic artists but to Picasso, nothing mattered other than that he should express his advocacies through his work and he sure did pretty well because his art attracted critiques. In 1927, another era evolved and Picasso, being the resilient artist that he was, got caught in Surrealism. As the name suggests and at the period the art style evolved, the themes of Surrealism usually were on the tragedies of war that the artists themselves got involved with or the events they witnessed with their own eyes or heard. At this time, Picasso was involving himself with political issues and was using his art to express his opinions. In 1937, when he heard about the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War, Picasso completed one of his most famous artworks and took the name of the place as the title, ‘Guernica’. The painting features the harsh realities of war. However, the theme is not portrayed in an obvious manner but involves several figurative elements. For instance, one man is pictured with the face of a bull and according to Picasso, this represents brutality and darkness (Teraoka). The bull’s face is distorted and not as symmetrical as a photographic picture might look. It has its horn above one eye and an ear above the other which might represent the fascist’s evil deeds that need to be completed regardless of the effects that they are seeing. The one ear might represent the oppressors listening to only one side and that is the person they are working for. The painting does not show clearly all the parts of the subjects but rather shows the images overlapping each other which probably would strengthen the issue on chaos. In addition, children, babies and helpless mothers are shown as victims in the painting. It is interesting to note that there are no men in the portrait except for the oppressors and this speaks clearly to the audience that in times of war, the real victims are the innocent, harmless and vulnerable who have no means to defend themselves. Another symbolism in the painting is the bulb on the ceiling. With an inexperienced eye, one could not notice at once that the image was deliberately drawn to look like an eye. Bulb in Spanish is called ‘bombilla’ and critiques think that this is probably there for the audience to easily recognize the similarity of the word to bomb (show-your-own-art-gallery.com). Moreover, the image of an eye is probably used to show that the effects of war, powered by bombs, are commonly known, not hidden by the public. Yet, there is the question that arises, why such sufferings have to be experienced by innocent people. Picasso in his own time was known for his talent and sure continues to live as his works are displayed and appreciated through time. Along with his colorful career, people are also attracted to his colorful romance which did not just involve one or two women but a number of unknown faces. Picasso married two women in his lifetime, Olga Khokhlova, a ballerina he married in 1918 and Jacqueline Roque whom he married in 1961 (bio.com). in April 8, 1973, at the age of 91, Picasso left the world mourning for the demise of a highly esteemed artist who touched the hearts of people around the world with his convictions expressed through his art. As he left a great impact to the world on the issues of war with his aforementioned work, Picasso, although he does not live anymore, still is brought to memory with the works he left and the life that he lived. References De Kooning, Willem. “Pablo Picasso Paintings. Artquotes.net. n.d. Web. April 25, 2012. . n.a. “Pablo Picasso: Biography”. Bio. True Story. 1996-2012. Web. April 25, 2012. . n.a. “Famous Paintings by Pablo Picasso”. Show Your Own Art Gallery.com. 2009-2012. Web. April 25, 2012. . Teraoka, Masami. “Guernica, 1937 By Pablo Picasso”. Pablo Picasso: His Artworks, Quotes and Biography. 2009. Web. April 25, 2012. . Read More