Picasso 1

Lulu Steele

Professor

Hum 310

February 20, 2017

Picasso

When I think of Pablo Picasso’s work, I think of puzzle pieces that were placed

incorrectly on a big piece of canvas and never finished. I have never truly understood what was

so special about his style and why people would pay millions in order to own one of his pieces of

work. I have heard the expression “my kid can paint that” often about art pieces and I must admit

that I am sure I have said those exact words about Picasso’s paintings. This is the reason why I

chose an art piece by Pablo Picasso to write my paper on, because I have to discover what made

Picasso’s work some of the top selling paintings in the world of Art. In order for me to

understand Picasso’s work I had to first understand the artist himself. I see art as a way of

expression without words being used and I had to find out what Picasso was trying to say

through his work, the kind of art that has inspired many and keeps inspiring people, centuries

after his death.

Pablo Picasso was born Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, in Malaga, Spain on October 25, 1881.

Born to an artistic father that had a passion for painting which led him teaching art. It is said that

Picasso’s passion for drawing began at a young age, “His mother stated at one time that his first

words were to ask for a pencil” (“Pablo Picasso”, 2009). Picasso’s ability to draw and paint at

young age caught the attention of his father and it led his parents to enroll him in one of the best
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art schools in Barcelona. By the age of 9, young Picasso was already painting pictures that many

would find hard to believe came from someone so young and without experience, (​Figure 1).

Even though when some people think of Picasso they first think of his cubism style but, the

artist did not paint in that style until the twentieth century. His earliest style of painting was more

realistic rather than cubism, ​page 13, Figure 2. Figure 2, ​not only shows a more realistic way of

painting by the artist but, it also shows how great of a painter the young Picasso was. Where did

his love for art at such a young age come from? Who was it that inspired young Picasso to create

such beautifully detailed paintings?

Picasso’s father was a painter himself and a teacher of the arts. Jose Luis y Blasco saw

the potential that his son had at a very young age. Skills that took him years to learn, his son was

naturally born with. Figure 3, is a painting done by Blasco next to a painting done by Picasso at

8 years old. It is clear to see why Picasso’s father felt that his son “surpassed him as an artist by

the age of 13”, (“​Pablo Picasso”​). If we look at paintings that Picasso was creating in his earlier

childhood and teenage years, the style he uses is very different than the style that he is most

famous for. In the 19th century impressionism and realism was the prefered style of painting for

many artist. Artist such as Edgar Degas was one of young Picasso’s inspiration. At the age of 23,

Picasso painted W​oman Ironing,​ 1904 (Figure 4), which was inspired by Degas ​Woman Ironing​,

1890 (Figure 5) painting. When both paintings are side by side, Picasso’s piece has a more of a

goth look in comparison to Degas. The colors are less vivid and the woman has harsher lines

than the softer lines used by Degas. It is easy to see that Picasso was always adding his own

touch to his paintings even when they were inspired by other artists work.
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In his later days Picasso’s style of painting became more versatile. Painter Paul Cezanne

was an artist that both Picasso and his fellow artist friend Georges Braque admired. Not only did

they admire him for his way of creating art but mostly on his technique of reisisting nature, as

well as, his styles which included abstarct and cubism. Picasso once told a photographer that

Cezanne was” his one and only master”, (“The Art Institute of Chicago”). One thing that

seperated Cezanne’s style with the rest of the artist of his time was his style of painting. He had a

unique way of using repeptitve brush strokes in his paintings which helps people distinguish his

work from others. Picasso on the other hand, was recognizible for many elements used in his art

creations but it was his cubism technique that kept Picasso indoor for months at time. Cubism

defines Picasso and many of his mastepriece that now reside around the world.

Cubism became an interest of Picasso and his friend, fellow artist Georges Braque . This

fairly new technique was a style of painting that Georges Braque was familiar with since he had

already experimented with with the technique. Picasso was beginning to experiment with the

technique which fascinated him and was eventually part of many of his pieces most famous

pieces. There was no doubt that Picasso was an amazing, unique painter but not all of the knows

painters of his time felt the same about his piantings as we do now.

For instance, when Picasso painted his piece Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (Figure 6),

some of the well known painters of his time crtiticized the painting and even went as far as

saying that the artist will be found hunged behind it (​“Pablo Picasso”​). This painting as many

others by the artist was not painted for beauty but more to tell a story. With this painting Picasso

put aside all tradtional elements and was inspired by African art and African masks. Knowing

this helps us understand why the faces on the women look disoriented and as if they have been
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carved out of wood. If the painting which was of prostitutes would have been painted differently,

for example, more realistic i thiink that it would have glamourized a life that is not truly

glamorous. By using the technique of cubism and incorporating African art, Picasso showed the

ugliness that went with this type of work. Not speaking of what the women felt like on the

outside but more what they felt like in the inside.

Picasso’s work always had a story behind it. Many of the women that Picasso painted

were lovers or mistress that the painter had relationships with. These paintimgs were mostly

painted through out Picasso’s cubism period. The painting ​The Weeping Woman,​ 1937 (Figure

7),was of a mistress that Picasso had who was said to have a darkside to her, an ugly side as he

once said. When we look at the woman on the painting it is as if we see two different women.

One that has vivid colors of yellow and a shade of purple on the outer layer but, has cooler tones

like blue and gray in the inner layer. This in a way feels like someone with dual personalities that

Picasso saw and was inspired by. Once again, using cubism as his way of creating this painting

makes the woman look disoriented and not stable. Even though Picasso’s African period was

from 1906-1909 you can see that the shape of the face on the painting was much like the faces on

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, l shaped noses with hard lines defining facial features.

Picasso was a man of different professional periods. Not only did Picasso use forms,

lines, and shapes in his paintings to create emotion and feeling, the painter also used colors to

define what he himself was feeling at the time of the painting. In his blue period (1901-1904) for

instance, Picasso used cool tones such as blue and blue-green in many of his creations. During

this period, Picasso was painting with his feelings on his sleeve or better said, his feelings on the

tip of his paintbrush. Picasso was dealing with the suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas.
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Picasso once stated “I started painting blue when i learned of Casagemas’s death”, (“​Pablo

Picasso”​). Through out this period not only did the death of his beloved friend inspire the painter

but also the lives of beggars, prostitues, and drunks. Lives that to the artist could be seen as an

unhappy and depressing life. I think of the shades used by the artist in this period as a metaphor

for the depression and sadness he was feeling at the time. It is speculated that the rose period

which followed was a sign of Picasso overcoming his depression and moving forward.

Moving forward, it is important to see how much of Picasso’s personal life influenced

many if not most of the arist his creations . He was not only a master at what ehe did but he was

also a true believer that the viewer should taken upon themselves to determine what the art piece

says to them. He once stated, “what I want is for my picture to evoke nothing but emotion”,

(“Pablo Picasso”). Picasso’ creations did exactly just that then and continue to do it now. In the

year of 1937 Pablo Picasso created Guernica, one of his largest, most emotionally raw painting

and it give people around the world something to talk about.

On April 26, 1937 bombs began to drop on the streets of Guernica, Basque Country,

Spain. It was an attack that took the lives of 1,650 residents and leaving many injured. It was

during this time that the Civil Spanish war between the Nationalist party, led by General

Francisco Franco and the Spanish republican Party. General Francisco Franco had the support of

Hitler and his German Air Force. It destroyed the town leaving those who survived without a

place to live. The bombing of Guernica was described as an “experimental tactic tested on that

bright Spring day with devastating results…”, (“​The Bombing of Guernica​”). It is hard to believe

that this event was meant as a practice run for the German military, on a day that many described
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as a usual market day. The city of Guernica had no military base which meant that the civilians

nor anyone had any way to defend themselves.

The aftermath of the silent attack was seen throughout the streets and felt by many,

Picasso being one of them. Picasso’s politicsl prefrence was communism and even though he

was not a republican, it was the newly elected Spanish Republican government who asked the

artist to create a painting to be displayed at the modern technology exhibition that took place at

the Paris World Fair. Ironically, the art piece created by the painter had nothing to do with

modern technology but had everything to do with war. Picasso took it upon himself to create a

political piece that showed the haunting emotions of those who lost their lives on the day of

April 26, 1937.

Guernica ​is one of Picasso’s largest paintings, it measure at 11 feet tall by 25.6 feet

wide. The painters technique of cubism is seen throughout the painting which becomes an

important element to help the viewer see the chaos happening in the scene. The use of different

shapes, lines, and forms resemble a piece of shattered glass and help make the painting

disoriented. However, if the painting was done in a more realistic way, I do not think that the

viewer would be able to see the chaos that Picasso was trying to illustrate. Another element that

is obvious is the absence of vivid colors that we are use to seeing in paintings by Picasso. Why is

that?

As the viewer I believe that Picasso chose to use only black and white as a symbol of

death and resurrection. If we look at the painting everything that surrounds it is painted with

darker shades, this can signify fear and death. Now, the objects painted in white are the subjects

of the painting which are the humans and the two animals. This lightness of color can signify
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resurrection to the bodeis that are lying there lifeless and light to the bodies with life. By using

only this shades of color the painter does not want the viewer to focus on anything other than the

pain that was created by the bombings. We do not see how they are dressed or what financial

status they had. Color added to the painting would have given it some life and Picasso seems to

not be showing life through this painting, rather, death and sadness. This being just my opinion,

it is important to undertsand why the painter decided on these specific colors to paint his piece.

In the article “​Picasso, Guernica​” writer Lynn Robinson gives us a reference of why

Picasso chose to paint​ Guernica​ in shades of whites, blacks, and grays. Robinson explains that

the artist might have chosen this monochromatic palette because it “may reflect his initial

encounter with the original newspaper reports and photographs in black and white…”,

(Robinson, 2017). Once I read the theory by Robinson in which he compared the color of the

painting to a newspaper, I was able to see it more clearly of why he would think that the colors

chosen by the artist might have been meant to resemble a newspaper. . Throughout some of the

white in the painting there are these what look like lines going across them. Those lines look that

lines that appear at times when pictures are printed on the newspaper. It almost looks as if it is as

light in weight as a page would be in a newspaper, light seems to shine through the lighter parts

of the painting.

Another important element of the painting is what the viewer sees and feels at the first

glsnce of the painitng. I took upon myslef to post a picture of the painting on my social media

page to get the reaction of those friends who did not know what the painting was about. The

feedback that I received was great. Many described the painting as dark and filled with pain, as

well as the image of the end of humankind. When I asked what they felt when they first saw the
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picture, they used words such as sadness, fear, anger, and depressed. Then came the question of,

what are the subjects or objects in this painting? Almost everyone pointed out to the woman on

the left side holding a baby and crying. They also mentioned the two animals that are easy to see,

as well as, the man lying on the floor. These were all pretty easy to distinguished but I knew that

I would have to do some research in order to truly discovered every detail that Picasso added to

this masterpiece. But first, let us take a look at what I as a viewer see in the painting.

What my eye went to first when I first viewed the painting was the lady on the left side

holding her baby. Since I knew the background story to why Picasso painted this piece, I knew

right away that this woman was holding her either injured or dead child. The way that the

woman’s head tilts back so far tells me that she is filled with agony and pain. It is as if she has let

out the loudest scream filled with the pain that she is feeling at the moment. We can see that one

of her breast is exposed which I feel is a sign of motherhood. This can also be a way of the artist

letting us know that this child that she holds is her own. Another thing that stands out to me is

the floating arm on the right side holding onto a lantern.

Eventhough it was known that Picasso was an Atheist, many of his paintings had religious

relations to them, which may have to do with Picasso being brought up a catholic. When I look at

the floating arm coming out of what seems to a door, it seems to me as if it is symbolizing God.

Reason being that it looks as if their are stairs going up behind the arm which can symbolize

heaven and by adding the lantern to it, it is as if God is shinning its light to the deceased and the

survivors.

The person on the right which seems to be kneeling down and looking towards the

lantern looks as if she/he is praying, the only reason why I would assume that is because of
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where she is looking. Now lets look at the man on the right that has his arms raised up to the sky,

I stared at this the longest trying to figure out this scene and what that all symbolized. It was not

until I noticed what seems to be an arm band on his right arm (viwers right, his left), that I was

able to see somehting of it.

First we have to remember that it was the Germans that did this and what do Nazi

German soldiers were on their arm to identify their status? ​An arm band. ​This object to me

symbolzes a German soldier being swallowed by what seems to be a mouth with pointy teeth.

This mouth can symbolize hell and him having his arms stretched out to the heavens could be

him asking for forgiveness for the pain he has created. It can be a gesture of wanting to be saved.

Another thing that I noticed about this precise part of the painting is that this same subject is set

to the side of everything else. He does not seem to be part of the same suffering that the victims

are going through. He is looking up meanwhile everyone else seems to be looking left. If we also

look at his forehead we ca see an X on it, this has been said to be the mark of the beast leaving

me to believe that he a German soldier, reason why he feels disconnected from eveything else

going on to the side of him.

The bull on the left side has as well as, the horse in the center had me a bit confused. I

knew that they were put there to symbolize something now it was just up to me to do some

research. My research helped me put together that a bull in the world of Greek Mythology art is

meant to symbolze Zeus, the King of the Gods. But did this bull actually represent the king of the

God’s or was it just a bull? Another one of Picasso’s periods was Greek Mythology, it was

considered his Classical period (1914-1925). So that means that the bull in the painting could

possibly have a connection to Zeus the king of gods. The horse right at the center of the painting
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is another interest of mine. When I looked for information on what a horse can symbolize, I

found out that it has to meanings to it. The symbol of a horse can mean destruction or victory.

This made sense to me since the event that took place in Guernica had both. Victory came for the

nationalist as they won the war but, at the cost of destrcution in which innocent civilians lost

their lives. It is at this moment that I wish Picasso was alive to either agree or disagree with me.

It is difficult to truly know what the meaning behind every subject of the painitngs

means since Picasso gave very little details about his painting. Picasso left it up to the viewer to

find symbolism in his painting but, I wanted to get feedback from art experts that probably

noticed things that I did not, for this reason I did some research on what the experts came up

with and what their take on it is. I found a video by ​Spencer’s Painting of the Week,​ in which an

expert finds hidden symbols that I as a viewer missed. These are just assumptions of what ojects

can signify in the painting, but assumptions are also ecceptable when it comes to Art.

On the video one of the objects mentioned that caught my attention was the light bulb

shinnig above everyone. At first glance I just saw it as what it is but, the speaker mentions that it

symbolises a bomb. In spanish the word light bulb is Bombilla and so the speaker brings it to the

viewers attention that the word Bombilla sounds much like the word bomb or bomba (spanish

word for bomb). She relates the technology of a light bulb to the destructive technology of a

bomb. This would make sense since the fair that the painting was to be created for had to do with

modern technology. My research shows me that the firt light bulb was invented in 1879 and the

first bomb testing was 1945. The old technology was something that gave light compared to the

newer technology that took life. Once I thoguht of it in this perspective that light bulb meant so

much more to me. The speaker also mentions a few hidden figures that are harder to notice,
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things such as a human skull between the horse’s body and the man lying on the ground. She

mentions the flower which is at the hand of the dead body. And even though she had no

explanation for it, I think of it as the story of what that typical day at the market was for these

civilians.

When Picasso was later asked about the details of ​Guernica​ and what they symbolized,

he responded with “it isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if

he wrote them out in so many words. The public who look at the picture must interpret the

symbols as they undertsand them”, (Picasso, 1937). I respect Picasso for what he said about the

viewer and his paintings. If Picasso wanted to tell us as a detailed factual story, he could have

written a book. Instead he paints and gives his viewers the chance to express what the picture

says to them. How the picture makes them feel emotioanlly as well as, the chance to relate to the

picture without being told the true story behind every single object.

Picasso has a few political paintings that meant a lot to him and to his fans and collectors

around the world. ​Guernica ​was his most popular one and traveled around the world until

Picasso allowed it to come back to his country of Spain. For 19 years the painting traveled since

the reason for Picasso to not want the painting in Spain had to do with the politic party in order at

the time. Picasso said that the painting will not be allowed in Spain “until the coumtry enjoyed

public liberties and democatic institutions” (“​Picasso, Guernica​”). In 1981 The painting finally

arrived to Spain and was placed in Reina Sofia, Spain’s National Museum of Modern Art in

Madrid. It is said that in the 1940’s a Nazi officer visited the artist studio and asked Picasso “did

you do that?” in which Picasso replied, “no, you did”, (“​Picasso, Guernica​”). Reading this
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respomse gave me chills and made me emotional. It shos how important it was for Picasso to

create this paiting.

So my questions now are, Can any modern art be compared to the great painter Picasso?

What kind of political art are viewers of this era being exposed to through art? I truly do not

believe that there is an artist out there at this moment that can be compared to Picasso, influenced

by him? Yes. Politics still play a big role in the art world and one painter that has brought poltics

to the attention of every teen is the artist Bansky. Bansky used a quote by Picasso in which he

says “ The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal”, and crossed out Picasso’s name and wrote

Bansky instead. This was considered an art piece by the new age artist. I found it to be pretty

darn clever. Bansky also uses the image of Picasso in one of his pieces (figure, 10). It is obvious

that Picasso might have been an inspiration of the artist. Picasso left behind a legacy that will

live for as long as we have art.

In conclusion, Picasso lived a long life in which he did what he loved most, create. He

painted since he was a toddler, perfecting the art at the young age of 8. Picasso was not only a

painter, he also experimented with sculptures, ceramics and even helped create costumes for

ballets. This was a man that women loved and men admired. Even though to some his paintings

might seem childlike, they are respected and collected throughout the world of art. Picasso lives

on through not only his paintings but through the use of his famous technique, cubism.

Eventhough it was not only Picasso who was creating paintings with this technique, it is Picasso

of whom we think of when we hear the word cubism. Structures and architecture can be seen in

downtown that easily reminds you of cubism. In Modern Masters, the speaker explains just how

much influence Picasso had not only on other artist but also on things such as architecture,
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fashion, and even a car that was titled Picasso. The hotel logo for the Radisson is said to have

copied the same style in which Picasso signed his name, (figure 9). This being a way of

capturing the attention of hotel seekers.

I may have started this journey of research as a non fan of the artist but, I am now ending

this as a fan. I am a fan of of art and I respect the way that Picasso thoought of his paintings and

the importance for an artist to allow his viewers to discover what the art piece is saying to them.

Doing research on his most popular piece, ​Guernica, ​introduced me to a different way of seeing

cubist paintings and understand how much time it takes for lines and shaped to tell a story, and

eventhough they seem like an unfinshed puzzle, they are more than that. They are unfinished

pieces of a puzzle that give life to a story I had yet learn. Guernica, 1937 is filled with chaos and

pain and now when I look at it I go beyond what I see on the painting. I can feel the pain of the

mother holding her child, I can see how that flower can mean what life was like before the

bombings and all of this helps me understand and see Picasso and his in another light. Creating a

fan.