Transcript Aesthetics Presentation #6 The Art of Pablo Picasso The Art of Pablo Picasso A 20th Century Question: What is art? “Each [work of art] represents what.

Aesthetics
Presentation #6
The Art of Pablo Picasso
The Art of Pablo Picasso
A
20th Century Question:
What is art?
“Each [work of art] represents what the
person who made the work—
and the audience for whom the work
was intended—
believed to be art.”
Rita Gilbert, Living with Art, p. 18
Contemporary Art
Defies traditional classifications
defined by general characteristics
“What exactly is art? How can we
tell what is and what isn’t [art]?
…viewers make up their minds.”
Rita Gilbert, Living with Art, p. 18 - 20
Art and the “Real” World
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Must Art reflect the image of the “real
world”?
Artistic License allows the artist to change
things from the “real world” for the sake of
the artwork.
Sometimes a mirror of the “real world”
would not be the best tool to show the
artist’s message.
Realistic vs. Artistic License
Olga Picasso in an Armchair
by Pablo Picasso 1917
Dora Maar Sitting
by Pablo Picasso
1939
Art and the “Real” World
Only in Western culture has there
been the expectation that art should
mirror the natural world.
This is a legacy from the Ancient
Greek and Roman civilizations.
Art and Appearances
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The assumption that art should faithfully
mirror the visible world is difficult for some
people to overcome
The elevation of art during the Renaissance
from a craft to an intellectual pursuit went
hand in hand with the discovery of methods
for making optically convincing
representations
Many viewers still feel that the skill of an
artist is reflected in the mastery of naturalistic
representations
Art and
Appearances
Photography
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What did Picasso name as the reason for
the dramatic change in 20th century art?
First Communion, Picasso, 1895-96, oil on canvas, 65 3/8” x 46 1/2”
Seated Woman Holding a Fan, Picasso, 1908, oil on canvas, 59” x 39 3/8”
Art and
Appearances
Photography
a mechanical
method of
capturing
images of the
visible world
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After 31,830 years of making images, the need for
the skills of representational artists came into
question.
First Communion, Picasso, 1895-96, oil on canvas, 65 3/8” x 46 1/2”
Seated Woman Holding a Fan, Picasso, 1908, oil on canvas, 59” x 39 3/8”
Art and
Appearances
Picasso felt
liberated
from the task
of copying
nature
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“Now we know at least everything that painting isn’t.”
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
First Communion, Picasso, 1895-96, oil on canvas, 65 3/8” x 46 1/2”
Seated Woman Holding a Fan, Picasso, 1908, oil on canvas, 59” x 39 3/8”
Picasso (1881 – 1973)
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Picasso leads a revolt against “realistic” shape
He could draw before he could talk. His first
words were “Pencil, pencil”
In addition to Cubism, he was one of the first to
use “found objects” (junk?) to make sculpture,
and his subsequent work shows an incredible
variety
“Les desmoiselles D’Avignon” and “Guernica” are
two of the most powerful paintings of the 20th
century.
Pablo Picasso – 1881 to 1973
Self-portrait (1907)
The Old Guitarist (1904)
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Following the
Fauves example of
breaking with color
traditions, artists
dared to break
conventions of
shape and space
This piece was
pivotal in the
development of
20th century art
Picasso’s Early Art
Pablo Picasso, Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, oil on canvas, 8’ x 7’ 8”
Picasso’s Early Art
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Picasso included
nontraditional
elements from other
ancient cultures
Merged figure &
ground
No conventional
modeling of form,
sharp geometric
shapes
Flat planes hints of
Cubism to follow
Pablo Picasso, Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, 1907, oil on canvas, 8’ x 7’ 8
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Picasso may not have
consciously intended to
break the Western pictorial
tradition that had
dominated since the early
14th c. (Giotto)
Picasso’s Early Art
But his revolution of form
discovered in the process
of creating this image
secured his place in the
Parisian avant-garde
Lamentation by Giotto di Bondone 1305-
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Braque & Picasso set out
together to develop the
potential of this innovation
6 frescos, Arena Chapel
Pablo Picasso, Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon,
1907, oil on canvas, 8’ x 7’ 8”
•Picasso extended the
principle of collage into three
dimensions to produce the
first Synthetic Cubist
sculpture
•This typical Cubist subject
of musical instruments is
composed of wood scraps
•A revolutionary technique
for sculpture assemblage
Guitar – 1912
(Restored maquette)
The size and the powerful imagery overwhelm the viewer
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas, 11’ 6” x 25’ 8”
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One of Picasso’s most famous paintings
Begun within days of the bombing & finished in little
over a month
Shocking to the original viewers, it remains a
chillingly dramatic protest against the brutality of
war
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas, 11’ 6” x 25’ 8”
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The stark, hallucinatory nightmare focuses on the victims
Figures are expressively distorted, some are literal, some are symbolic
The horse symbolizes
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The bull is thought to symbolize
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betrayal of innocence & the Spanish republic
either Franco or Spain
The electric light & lantern suggest
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Picasso’s desire to reveal the horror of the event to the world
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937, oil on canvas, 11’ 6” x 25’ 8”
Art is always
• The product of its
own culture
• Produced under
the prevailing
standards of taste
Self-portrait - 1972
Art and Beauty
“Art and Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”
“Art that momentarily pleases the eye
offers only one level of experience.
Art that touches the intellect and the
emotions brings far greater satisfaction.”
Rita Gilbert, Living with Art, p. 25