Pablo Picasso (1962)
Who was Picasso and what is he most famous for? The brilliant exhibition at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art lets us into his private art collection to discover something about him.
Pablo Picasso was born to middle class parents (his father was a painter) in Spain in 1881. His life spanned almost a century, a time of great change. Pablo Picasso lived through two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War and he died in Paris, France in 1973, a celebrated artist. He fathered four children by three women and married twice.
He’s well known as the co-founder of Cubism but he influenced many of the art movements of the 20th century. Art historians divide his work into various periods:
- Blue Period 1901 – 1904
- Rose Period 1904 – 1906
- African influenced Period 1907 – 1909
- Cubism 1909 – 1919
- Classicalism and surrealism until 1973
A few of his most famous works include; Guernica 1937 a large oil on canvas depicting the horror of the Spanish Civil War, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon 1907 portrays five prostitutes in a brothel and The Weeping Woman 1937 shows his lover Dora Maas, crying.
Picasso’s works included collage, brass sculpture, public art and etchings. They span simple, elegant black and white line drawings to the rich, complexity of vivid colours and subtle shades of cubism. There will be many of Picasso’s works you’ll immediately recognise (even if you didn’t know they were his) as his art has saturated our modern imagery.
Learn more by buying a book about Picasso & his collection from the online store or at the Brisbane Gallery store at the GoMA exhibition.
The selection of free films at GoMA’s Australian Cinematheque allows you to understand more about the man and the artist. The program includes a Merchant-Ivory movie called Surviving Picasso about one of Picasso’s many mistresses as well as the film The Mystery of Picasso made in 1955 by Henri-Georges Clouzot. It has been declared a French national treasure as it portrays his process of painting and creation.
You could spend years studying Picasso but start your discovery with a trip to Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art before the ‘Picasso & his collection’ exhibition ends on 14 September.
