DSC_0339
www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibi...
In 1932, Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was not yet half-way through his career. After years of poverty as a young artist in Barcelona, he had moved to Paris at the turn of the twentieth century and, by the early 1930s, was both celebrated and wealthy. He was aware, however, that he was losing contact with his artistic contemporaries, and that critics were questioning his ability to create radical new work.
Picasso was always restless, constantly trying his hand at new things. His Blue and Rose periods in the early 1900s were mainly of figurative paintings. On discovering archaic and notwestern art, he moved further from naturalistic representation and radically reinterpreted it when he and Georges Braque invented cubism. Between the two world wars he made works inspired by classical art, and others that engaged with the contemporary interest in surrealism.
As a foreigner living in France, Picasso refrained from political activities and kept a distance from official engagements, including those with his native Spain. Things changed dramatically when Nazi German and Fascist Italian warplanes bombed the Basque town of Guernica in 1937, in response to which Picasso created a monumental black-and-white painting which to this day is regarded by many as the greatest anti-war statement in art.
Throughout his life, Picasso sought to revive the tradition of western art, especially painting. He competed creatively with his contemporaries, particularly Matisse, but also earlier artists including Velázquez, Ingres and Manet. He returned repeatedly to subjects such as the female nude, classical mythology – particularly the character of the Minotaur – and the bullfight.
Picasso married twice and had several other long-term relationships. He had four children. By 1932, his marriage to Olga Khokhlova was under increasing strain. The escape offered by his relationship with the significantly younger Marie-Thérèse Walter became a key inspiration for much of
his work from this period.
The work that one does is a way of keeping a diary.
Pablo Picasso
LOVE FAME TRAGEDY
Download large print guide [PDF]
1932 was a make-or-break year for Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). In October 1931 he had turned fifty. He was inundated with invitations to exhibit his work. At the same time, critics openly discussed whether he was an artist of the past rather than the future. Picasso’s grand apartment on the rue La Boétie, his tailored suits and chauffeur-driven car symbolised his rise from poor Spanish migrant to international superstar, as did his marriage to the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, his principal model and inspiration for much of the late 1910s and early 1920s.
But Picasso felt increasingly restless and critically sidelined. He bought an eighteenth-century mansion in the Normandy countryside where he experimented with sculpture. He created a chaotic studio in a Parisian apartment identical to the one below in which he lived a life of bourgeois respectability with his wife and son. He was in a secretive relationship with a younger woman, Marie-Thérèse Walter. He flirted with surrealism while trying to beat Henri Matisse at his colourful game.
These contradictions were brought into focus by his first major retrospective in June 1932. In the preceding months Picasso channelled his energies into ambitious paintings intended to silence his detractors. As the year progressed, the mood darkened from sensuous exuberance to ominous anxiety. Rarely overtly political, Picasso’s work nonetheless reflected the times: a world – including his native Spain – increasingly in the grip of economic depression, mass unemployment, populist nationalism and the rise of totalitarian regimes. If 1932 began for Picasso under the sign
of love, it ended with a premonition of tragedies to come.
DSC_0339
www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibi...
In 1932, Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was not yet half-way through his career. After years of poverty as a young artist in Barcelona, he had moved to Paris at the turn of the twentieth century and, by the early 1930s, was both celebrated and wealthy. He was aware, however, that he was losing contact with his artistic contemporaries, and that critics were questioning his ability to create radical new work.
Picasso was always restless, constantly trying his hand at new things. His Blue and Rose periods in the early 1900s were mainly of figurative paintings. On discovering archaic and notwestern art, he moved further from naturalistic representation and radically reinterpreted it when he and Georges Braque invented cubism. Between the two world wars he made works inspired by classical art, and others that engaged with the contemporary interest in surrealism.
As a foreigner living in France, Picasso refrained from political activities and kept a distance from official engagements, including those with his native Spain. Things changed dramatically when Nazi German and Fascist Italian warplanes bombed the Basque town of Guernica in 1937, in response to which Picasso created a monumental black-and-white painting which to this day is regarded by many as the greatest anti-war statement in art.
Throughout his life, Picasso sought to revive the tradition of western art, especially painting. He competed creatively with his contemporaries, particularly Matisse, but also earlier artists including Velázquez, Ingres and Manet. He returned repeatedly to subjects such as the female nude, classical mythology – particularly the character of the Minotaur – and the bullfight.
Picasso married twice and had several other long-term relationships. He had four children. By 1932, his marriage to Olga Khokhlova was under increasing strain. The escape offered by his relationship with the significantly younger Marie-Thérèse Walter became a key inspiration for much of
his work from this period.
The work that one does is a way of keeping a diary.
Pablo Picasso
LOVE FAME TRAGEDY
Download large print guide [PDF]
1932 was a make-or-break year for Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). In October 1931 he had turned fifty. He was inundated with invitations to exhibit his work. At the same time, critics openly discussed whether he was an artist of the past rather than the future. Picasso’s grand apartment on the rue La Boétie, his tailored suits and chauffeur-driven car symbolised his rise from poor Spanish migrant to international superstar, as did his marriage to the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova, his principal model and inspiration for much of the late 1910s and early 1920s.
But Picasso felt increasingly restless and critically sidelined. He bought an eighteenth-century mansion in the Normandy countryside where he experimented with sculpture. He created a chaotic studio in a Parisian apartment identical to the one below in which he lived a life of bourgeois respectability with his wife and son. He was in a secretive relationship with a younger woman, Marie-Thérèse Walter. He flirted with surrealism while trying to beat Henri Matisse at his colourful game.
These contradictions were brought into focus by his first major retrospective in June 1932. In the preceding months Picasso channelled his energies into ambitious paintings intended to silence his detractors. As the year progressed, the mood darkened from sensuous exuberance to ominous anxiety. Rarely overtly political, Picasso’s work nonetheless reflected the times: a world – including his native Spain – increasingly in the grip of economic depression, mass unemployment, populist nationalism and the rise of totalitarian regimes. If 1932 began for Picasso under the sign
of love, it ended with a premonition of tragedies to come.