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picassomy.
My version of Picasso


PicassolandscapeVilla in the South of France

picasso-dream

The Dream by Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Without a doubt Pablo Picasso is one of the most influential artists of the modern time. I have been lucky enough to have been to the Picasso Museum in Paris. I have also seen one of his most famous works, Guernica, in Madrid and other pieces in Europe. But, just recently I was able to see the Picasso and Chicago exhibit. It just opened in February at the Chicago Art Institute and will be there until May 2013.

Picasso went through many periods of his work such as the blue period (1902), the rose period (1905), and the cube period (1907) which he is known for creating. The Blue period was named that because of the blue tones he used in all his paintings during that time. It reflects a sense of melancholy and human oppression.  The Rose period comes after and it more uplifting with lighter tones.

Picasso created an artistic revolution between 1907 and 1914, moving from Analytical Cubism to Synthetic Cubism and ultimately affecting the rise of Surrealism, Abstractionism and Pop Art. Cubism remained a presence in the art world until the 1930s or ’40s, but its centrality faded by the 1920s

Picasso’s works are very complex. Along with the different ‘periods” of his work he used all forms of media; including, paint, sculpture, drawings and sketches to name a few. He is known for edgy experimentation that made him famous in his own lifetime. And his works remain well known throughout the world today. One of my favorite is the ‘Dream.” I have included it in this post. This painting is one of many Picasso did of his lover Marie-Therese. It is of her sleeping in a chair.  This joyful painting has a carefree mood which was an immense difference from his earlier works where for years he was consumed over world problems.

It is fascinating to see how he changed the colors of the outline of a slumbering beauty. The blue around her neck, green on the shoulder contrasting with the red on the armchair; I adore the red and yellow necklace. You see light and color and if you look hard enough a lot of sensuality and eroticism. Take a look and leave me a comment if you can find something very erotic in this painting.

I have tried to create my own ‘Picasso” style painting. I have to say it is much harder than it looks. Sometimes when I see a painting of his I wonder how long it took to do it because some look like a two year old could have done it. However, painting a real object, person or scene and paint it in a way that is unusual or prodigious is very challenging. I sometimes wonder what he saw in his head, did he actually see the same things we do?

My “Picasso” is of a landscape of one of my families favorite places; Cassis, France. A small fishing village in the South of France we visited many times. I used a few of his landscape paintings to help me with mine.  Ron, my husband took this photo. He is a great photographer and has a way of capturing the most brilliant things. The beautiful buildings with the Southern French window/doors and shutters offer so many delicious colors to paint. The boats float calmly in the port as the palm trees sway in the warm breeze.  The orange apartment in the middle is one we have stayed in many times. It overlooks the port of Cassis. We would sit up there for hours in the sun watching the show below. Families having ice cream, fishermen selling their catch of the day, lovers walking hand in hand; and a lot of other great things. The boats would come and go all day long. If I close my eyes I can feel the warmth of the sun and smell the fresh Mediterranean air. Oh how I long to go back.

Unfortunately, my painting isn’t a master piece but it was fun to do and like all my postings I have a lot of work to do on it still.

I hope you look at the paintings I have included for you. Like I said look at the ‘dream” and let me know if you see anything…. ?

When it comes to art keep an open mind and look for interesting parts even if you don’t love it right away. You can always find something interesting in art you just have to look a bit. Enjoy!

Here are some links to some of the things I mentioned.

CZ

Chicago Art Institute- Picasso and Chicago

http://www.artic.edu/

Pablo Picasso’s Guernica painting in Spain; Depicts Nazi’s devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during Spanish Civil War.

http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp

Cassis, France (South of France)

http://www.cassis.fr/