"Art is a lie that makes us realise the truth" - Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)
Pablo Picasso. New permanent collection - 'The Artist's work, in the city where he was born'
Visualise Pablo Picasso's beautiful nostalgic relationship with his native city. To this day, Malaga has not forgotten his culturally motivated works and gorgeous 'visual poems'. His aesthetic influence in Malaga is something truly unforgettable, stemming from his artful manipulation of conventions, stereotypes and human representations.
Breaking tradition:
In the Palacio de Buenavista (housing the Collection of Museo Picasso Málaga), you can perceive the turning point from a career influenced by symbolic circus themes to the beginning of "conceptual and stylistic revision" and archaic and non-European cultural influences. Witness unidentifiable human faces and full Cubist profiles mocking 'successful' human representations. Picasso considered Cubism as an art movement "dealing primarily with forms, and when a form is realised it is there to live its own life" and his Cézanne-influenced abstract compositions like 'Fruit Bowl' (1919, oil on canvas) are proof of this.
He and Braque were effectively the inventors of Cubism (1908 - 1914). We see in the numerous rooms of the Museo Picasso a style characterised by abstract geometric shapes and forms that abstain from the traditional rules and perspectives of the Renaissance. Instead, "I always aim at the resemblance. An artist should observe nature but never confuse it with painting".
Facial asymmetry:
Ordinarily, a portrait is meant to truthfully reflect the 'appearance and personality of the sitter' but Picasso reinvented the beauty of portraiture, transforming likenesses into primitive human beings, and capturing desired emotions in his distorted figures like the strikingly violent 'Bust of a Woman with Arms Crossed Behind her Head' (7 Nov 1939, oil on canvas).
Also in works like 'Bull's Head' (1942 Paris, Bronze and two pieces: bicycle handlebars and seat), you can see something strikingly impressive and complex in what is visually simple.
It is a beautiful new collection. Picasso breaks, fragments, and then reconstructs and transforms what is seen as insignificant into strong figurative pieces. It is a transformation of matter. Abstract. Figurative. And memorable.
This post follows my holiday to Torremolinos, Spain 30th July - 6th August 2017
Visit http://www.museopicassomalaga.org/en for more information
What a fantastic review Joanna. Thanks for sharing. It's great to see some international work coming through :) And really well put together.
Only comment - you link to your tumblr blog but it is password protected?