Anxieties of Love & War - Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso. Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris
This is an exhibition of 'Picasso's Picassos' - the works he never sold or gave away; the works he kept just for himself, which only after his death in 1973 were given to the French state by his family. This amazing exhibition covers the brilliant works of Picasso throughout every phase of his life, a historical journey of his art and career spanning 7 decades of the 20th century. From early 1900's in Spain, to Paris, Oceania and Africa, southern France, from Cubism, brushes with Surrealism, Classicism, and reflections of world wars and civil wars, this exhibition is a diary of Picasso's life and loves.
"I paint the way some people write an autobiography. The paintings, finished or not, are the pages from my diary..." Pablo Picasso
It was back in 1997 when I first experienced a Picasso original at the Barcelona Gallery. Like then, I am still in awe of his early works, sketches and etchings in particular the works from 1900-1940's, a fascinating period in history. I was so glad to have recently finished the fabulous book Golden Earrings by Belinda Alexandra (review coming soon on the blog) to get an insight into the Spanish civil war, a period in time that greatly disturbed Picasso and influenced many of his anti-war paintings namely 'Guernika', which unfortunately wasn't in this exhibition, but is a fascinating place that I visited in Basque Country.
"When I was a child, I could draw like Raphael, but it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like a child" Pablo Picasso
