About the Picasso exhibit:
Next to Picasso's work, most contemporary painting seems innocuous, pale and pretty. But that doesn't mean I liked all of his work. There were some works I really liked, including the small portraits of Dora Maar--these were paintings I wouldn't mind having in my house. Picasso apparently painted "classical" paintings when he was around 13 years old, but it didn't take long to give that up. He lived through two world wars and had many relationships, so much of the imagery is not surprising. It would appear that there was not a bone in his body that attempted to please anybody--and maybe that is the most attractive thing about the work for an artist. There is a power in the images and the execution that you just don't see in most current art. The exhibition is definitely worth seeing.
In contrast, see Scott Burdick's YouTube video, "The Banishment of Beauty", which though it is an interesting perspective, seems to have a hint of sour grapes about it. If you've seen the Picasso exhibit, let me know what you think!
Robert Genn's article on the SAM Picasso exhibit includes many different and varied comments.
Purchase this unframed painting.
Contact me if you would like to purchase a plein air frame.
What a beautiful painting! The Picasso exhibit must be amazing. Regarding the Burdick video, IMO anyone who can't find beauty in Frankenthaler, Diebenkorn, or Rothko has to be aesthetically bankrupt. I won't say what I think of Burdick's work.
ReplyDeleteComment from my friend June Shull: I saw the Picasso show Sunday. I would call his paintings "powerful" but I found it hard to see any "beauty" in them. I also liked the portraits of Maar best too.
ReplyDeleteHere a link to Robert Genn's article on the Picasso exhibit at SAM along with varied and interesting commentary.
ReplyDeletehttp://clicks.robertgenn.com/picasso-artwork.php
I LOVE IT!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm just gonna comment on your work, not Picasso's. I think you are getting better everyday. I find your work amazing. Great drawing and brushwork and your color and values are fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI've watched the first part of the Burdick videos. What I don't like is the tone of voice he uses when he reads the comments on the modern pieces. I find some of that work exciting and powerful, and always have. I must say I wasn't much of a Picasso lover until I visited the the Picasso Museum in Paris in 1997. Faced with so many of his works from all periods of his long career, I came away with a great appreciation for what he did. Not always beautiful, but true to himself. I feel the same way about Jimi Hendrix. I can't sit and listen to an entire album of his music all in one go, and much of it I would care to hear at all, but he was experimental, and out of those experiments came some great work. Same with Picasso. What bothers today in what Burdick calls this underground movement is that so many of them call themseles and vote themselves masters. Who is to judge what will stand the test of time? I am however thinking of a quote from Richard Schmid, "Ah, isn't it amazing what paint can do?!" I'm glad I found your blog this evening. Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for everybody's comments--both on the painting the topic related to Picasso. With the "modern" painters you might see one or two paintings in a museum--and its sometimes easy to dismiss them. I think when I see the whole range of an artist's work then I can put that one painting that I don't like so much into a broader perspective and understand more about what the artist was trying to do and all the different phases he/she went through. Art is often beautiful, but not necessarily so, and beauty itself isn't so easily categorized.
ReplyDelete