An Evolutionary View of the Style of Pablo Picasso - Research Paper Example

Section/# Picasso: An Evolutionary View of the Style and Thematic Elements of One of the Most Accomplished Artistsof the Modern Era Pablo Picasso is undoubtedly one of the most influential artists of the modern era; yet, unlike many artists both before and after his time, Picasso differentiated his works into a series of periods which exhibited a number of unique thematic elements and worked to exploit common beliefs and motives. One such period was what art critiques have categorized Picasso’s “Blue Period”. As the name implies, during this time, Picasso painted a host of paintings which relied almost exclusively on varying monochromatic tones and shades of blue and blue-green. Although more than just a reliance on a particular type of paint, this period was also defined by the thematic sterility and coldness that it portrayed. In this way, Picasso used the medium of the paint to transform images that might typically be understood another way into images that bore a somber, cold, and realistically touching reality. Accordingly, this brief analysis will seek to appreciate and understand Picasso’s “Blue Period” for the thematic elements, personal influences, and times in which this particular artwork was created. Picassso’s “Blue Period” is interesting beyond merely the thematic elements or the type of paints used to express these due to the fact that the “Blue Period” began when Picasso himself sank into what many scholars term a “deep depression (Cox 200). As a result of many of the life experiences that Picasso shared during the turn of the century to include the suicide of a close friend and his more complete grasp of his own mortality. Accordingly, the topics with which Picasso dealt with during this period are invariably concentric around morbid themes to include his works La mort de Casagemas, The Tragedy, and Casagemas in His Coffin to name but a few. As such the reader can quickly infer that the themes as well as the particular monochromatic style helped to reinforce to the viewer the sense of the immediacy of death and the ever-present mortality that we all face. Additionally, although these portraits command some of the highest premiums today with respect to Picasso’s works, they were, not surprisingly, panned by almost everyone at the time of their painting. Picasso struggled to sell them to an audience that was put off by their innately melancholy and cheerless subject matter. Many art critics have inferred incorrectly that Picasso’s incorporation of the underprivileged in society during this period was due to the fact that he himself was poor during this time and sought a way to reflect on the plight and situations associated with his fellow man. This however is not the case as it was the subject matter and the means in which Picasso approached it that sealed his fate with regards to the demand for his paintings and the subject matter with which he dealt during the “Blue Period”. Although many paintings of this period focus on the melancholy and sadness that Picasso felt as a result of his lost friend, Casagemas, another recurring theme throughout these paintings is in regards to the blindness and loss of sight that many of the characters exhibit within his works. It is the understanding of this author as well as a host of more talented art critics that this fixation with loss of sight and blindness helps to depict the depression and lack of vision that Picasso was experiencing during this time. Additionally, rather than choosing to focus his energies on typifying the plight of the extraordinary man/woman, Picasso chose for his subject matter the drunk, the prostitute, the nobody, and the everyman. In this way, the resounding emptiness that afflicts a faceless humanity is aptly expressed to the viewer in a way that a focus on a recognizable societal group or individual would not be. As the years progressed, Picasso, himself somewhat famous within the art community in Paris prior to 1901 began to fade into a type of self-promoted obscurity. Due to the fact that Picasso’s paintings were not selling and he was resolutely opposed to entering into any new forms of expression, his depression and his financial situation continued to worsen. However, resolute in his passion for expressing the world in hues of somber and cold blue/grays within tinges of green, Picasso continued his artwork unabated. As his “Blue Period” continued to expand, Picasso began to focus on greater expressions of the sightless theme that has been mentioned previously. Emaciated images of sightless/blind individuals are juxtaposed with emaciated images of sighted individuals. In this way, a type of humble comparison between the equally pathetic and hopeless nature of life between the individuals is exhibited. Although the term the “blind leading the blind” is a common expression in language, Picasso reflects on the hopeless and depressing subject matter of blindness as it affects humanity as a whole. As a growth within this period, Picasso then moved on to depict a large number of nudes; eventually spending a great deal of focus on the subject matter of the woman and child. Such an artistic expression is perhaps the oldest known variant; however, it is one that Picasso worked to differentiate in his own way. Whereas most traditional introductions of the mother and child uphold the basic feminine traits of motherhood, the gift of life, progression of time, and intrinsic elements of national culture, Picasso uses the unnatural and metallic hues that typified this “Blue Period” as a means of presenting the stoic and harsh realities of life and its eternal progression. Furthermore, in presenting the subject matter of these representations in unnatural and emotionally evocative poses, Picasso helped to identify the subject matter with the pervasive themes of sadness, hopelessness of life, and depression that pervaded the work of the time (Dorfman 9). The pallor visible in many of the faces of the subjects during this period, combined with the unnatural poses suggest such an interpretation. Although examining the actual stylistic elements of the individual pieces helps to define much of the meaning that Picasso was trying to evoke, it does not help the viewer to understand the cultural influences that likely helped to even further differentiate this period within Picasso’s life. Although the industrial revolution was far from well under-weigh at the time of this progression and growth, modernism and its effects were being felt at nearly every aspect of society. Trends that incorporated modernism were felt in art, sciences, and lifestyles across Europe and the rest of the world. More so than most other times in recorded history, up until this point, society was changing in a rapid way. As such it is not beyond reason to expect that such rapid change had a somewhat direct effect on the sterility and cold way in which many of Picasso’s works of this time were posed to the viewer. Though it would be foolish to assume that any solitary effect alone was responsible for differentiating Picasso’s style and subject matter during this period, it is equally shortsighted to assume that the pervasive effects of an increasingly mechanized and modernized society did not at least to some small extent helped to shape the subject matter that Picasso created during this period. Like most periods, this “Blue Period” itself drew to a close in or around the end of 1904. As such, Picasso’s style developed to incorporate more vivid colors to reflect a noticeable brightening of his depression around this time. The following period of his work would itself be differentiated by what critics refer to as a “Rose Period”; during which time, lively and bright representations of happier imagery is pervasive. Not surprisingly, to assist him in his transformation from a very long bought of depression, his “Rose Period” art work sold in a much more vigorous way than did his artwork from the “Blue Period”. Accordingly, this combined effect worked to better Picasso both as an artist and as a businessman. The progression from the Blue Period to the Rose Period was however not the last progression that Picasso’s works would make (Bates 81). He subsequently progressed to what scholars refer to as an African period, cubism, and a final period of classicism/surrealism. As such, rather than an all encompassing trend of Picasso’s career, the Blue Period is indicative of a developmental phase which helped to differentiate the subject matter, thematic elements, and views which were a function of a given period of feeling at a given point in time. Understanding the causal mechanisms for what prompted Picasso to enter into such a prolonged stage of seeking to expound upon the themes of hopelessness and emptiness is of course a key component towards gaining a more complete appreciation for the artwork which was completed during this time. In this way, the viewer can come to an understanding and appreciation for the root cause of the artwork rather than simply attempting to identify with the thematic elements therein presented. Works Cited Bates, Ellen. "Picasso's Paintings, Watercolors, Drawings And Sculpture: A Comprehensive Illustrated Catalogue 1885-1973; Turn Of The Century, 1900-1901." Library Journal 135.13 (2010): 80. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. Cox, Neil. "Picasso." Angelaki: Journal Of The Theoretical Humanities 16.1 (2011): 199-222. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. Dorfman, Ariel. "Interventions: Picasso's Closet." Art Bulletin 91.1 (2009): 6-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. 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