PICASSO : MASTERPIECES FROM THE MUSEE NATIONAL PICASSO, PARIS

Today, I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) to see the Picasso Exhibit. It was incredibly well done! The exhibit is spread over seven rooms. There are about 150 works on display. It is definitely a must see.

Room 1 : From Spain to Paris, 1900 - 1905. This period covers Picasso's early years in Spain to his bohemian beginnings in Monmartre in Paris.This period is also known as Picasso's Blue and Rose Periods.

Room 2: Making Way : Ancient, African and Oceanic Inspirations, 1906 - 1909. During this period Picasso was influenced by African and Oceanic part which ultimately lead to Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.  although the actual painting is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art  (MOMA) in New York, it was fascinating and insightful to study the preparatory works that were on exhibit at the AGO. This work lead the way to Cubism.

Room 3 : Cubism, Collage and Constructions, 1909 - 1915. By 1909 Picasso was becoming well known and wealthy. He opened a studio and started working with Georges Braque. Between the two of the, they developed Cubism, one of the greatest innovations in 20th century art.

Room 4 : Classicism, Marriage and Family, 1914 - 1924. Never one to be confined by a fashion or a school of art, even one he helped establish, Picasso returned to a more classical style during WWI. It was a happy time for Picasso; his marriage to Olga Khokhlova.

 

Room 5 : Surreal Anxiety and Desire, 1924 - 1934.  During the 1920s Picasso was influenced by the Surrealists. The Surrealists were one of the only school's of art that Picasso had any association with. It was also during this period that Picasso's work was infused with an almost tangle eroticism that is amply evident to even a casual observer.

Room 6 : War Paintings : Of Love and War, 1936 - 1939.  The 1930s were tumultuous for Picasso, his marriage to Olga broke down, His mistress Marie - Therese gave birth to his daughter, Maya and later he started an affair with Dora Maar, a Surrealist writer and photographer. Dora's involvement in left wing politics eventually affected Picasso which resulted in the painting Guernica. Guernica was my first introduction to Picasso when I was a teenager.

Room 6 : War Paintings : World War II to Korean War, 1940 - 1951. During WWII Picasso lived and worked in Paris under the German occupation. Although he was harassed from time to time he was left more or less alone. Maybe it was because of admirers or because the Germans did not want the bad publicity of persecuting the great artist, Picasso. the war eventually seeped into his work, symbols of death, skulls, bulls that signify vulnerability. this was the period when Picasso's reputation as a great artist was established.

Room 7 : The Joy of Life, 1950 - 1972 The period of Picasso's life was much brighter than all the preceding periods. And why not? He was permanently established in the south of France which was reason enough. He married a young woman who was some 40 odd years his junior and totally devoted to Picasso and his art and he has two small children later in life.

Picasso was more backward looking during his last period of creativity, which is not unreasonable. He reworked paintings by Delacroix, Velazquez and Manet. He even paid homage to the only artist that he ever considered to be his equal: Henri Matisse( my favorite artist).

I am including a few sketches of my own not because I think they even come close to anything that Picasso drew but that they were inspired by what I saw, at the exhibit and what  I saw within myself.

This is a sketch that I did for my friend Xiaoxiong. She is going through a bad patch right now. As I viewed the many mother and child drawings and paintings by Picasso I thought of her difficulties.

The guitar figured into so many of Picasso's works. It is also an important theme and element in my life so Picasso's guitar works resonant strongly within me. I thought about my cousin Denis who I will always associate with the guitar. For some time. I have been thinking about a work that incorporates the guitar. the idea is even stronger now.

The Picasso exhibit was an important artistic experience for me. I left the AGO feeling much richer artistically and more motivated creatively. I will be drawing on this experience for a long time to come. I would urge everyone who is even the least bit interested or curious about Picasso, if you love him or hate him (especially if you hate him!), go the exhibit. You will be impressed and glad that you went.

OUR VACATION IN NEW YORK - DAY FOUR - WEDNESDAY

This was our last full day in New York and we wanted to make the best of it. Our plan was to spend the morning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then spend the afternoon exploring Central Park. That's not quite how it turned out. The one thing that everyone who contemplates going to the Metropolitan Museum of Arts must think about is what they are going to see and what they are not going to see. With some 3 million works of art sprawled over 7 square miles, there is no way you could see everything in one week even if you spent every waking minute at the museum. So we made our choices.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

We decide that we would spend some time looking at European sculpture

A sculpture in walnut by Master of Soeterbeeck, about 1470

and decorative arts then move on to Modern Art on the first floor. After that we would go upstairs and take in some more modern art.

Art Nouveau Mural

We figured that we could do that in an hour or so then see some European painting followed by Greek and Roman art then some Egyptian art to round things off. we figured we would be done by half past noon. After all, we did get to the museum right at 9:00 AM when it opened. That way we could spend the afternoon in Central Park which is directly behind the museum. As it was, we barely got passed Modern Art by the time we decided we had to time to eat. We went downstairs to the cafeteria and checked out the menu. paying $15 for a hamburger that was kept warm under heat lamps was more than we could stomach. Instead, we went outside and bought lunch off of one of the trucks outside the museum, Lunch was not quite as good as the food truck outside of St. Barts but it was certainly good and cheap. Lunch for both of us was less than $20. It has started to rain so we stood as close to the wall of the museum and ate out lunch. It wasn't very refined but we didn't get wet. So, after lunch we decided to go back into the museum. One reason was that we had a lot more to see. The other reason was that it was now raining and we did not want to tramp around Central Park in the rain.

Constantin Brancussi - Bird in Space - 1923

Marc Chagall - The Lovers - 1913-1914

Henry Moore - Reclining Figure #4 - 1954-1955

This beautiful fabric was actually made from pieces of recycles materials such as bottle caps and wire and other found objects.

This piece was composed of pieces of cut mirror that were glued onto a substrate.

Rodin - From the Gates of Hell - The Thinker

Claude Monet - Water Lilies - 1919

Henri Matisse - Odalisque with Grey Trousers - 1927

Vincent Van Gogh - Irises - 1890

In the afternoon we spent time with Greek and Roman art, Medieval European art, then the European Sculpture gallery was outside the cafe on the ground floor. I have to admit that I really enjoyed my time with the sculptures. One of my favorites was the Burghers of Calais by Rodin.

The Burghers of Calais - 1884 - 1895

While I was admiring and taking pictures of the Burgers an artist was drawing them. We finished up the day in the Egyptian gallery which was completely amazing. We had never seen so many mummies and we had never seen ones that were so elaborate. What really impressed me were the life size wooden statues that were over 2,000 years old. when I think of the tools that they had and the quality of the work that I was looking at, well it was humbling.

Merti and his wife - 2350 B.C.

Illustratiing the many layers of a mummy

We spent five hours at the Metropolitan Museum of art and we barely scratched the surface. There was so much more to see and take in. I look at it this way, it is one more reason for a return visit to New York.