Picasso

by Robin Langley Sommers

Picasso is one of the most original and creative artists of the twentieth century, innovative throughout his long career, his work shows a mastery of many different techniques, but always carries an emotional impact and always bears the stamp of his own individual style.

A master of the traditional forms of art, Picasso quickly absorbed the impressionist influences of the Paris school, exemplified by works such as The Embrace in the Streetand In the Dressing Room. Toulouse-Lautrec's influence is also apparent in the haunting attitudes of despair which characterize his "Blue Period". The life-affirming circus scenes of his "Rose Period" have lighter, softer lines, and paintings such as The Actor are relaxed, even mellow.

Picassogives an outline of the artist's life, essential to understanding his complex work, and over 120 of Picasso's most famous and important works are illustrated in full color. With its informative but accessible text and lavish illustrations, this impressive volume vividly brings to life the paintings of one of the greatest names in the history of modern art.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography, Art History, History, School

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1958

Reviews

[Magdalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'm no pessimist. I don't loathe art because I couldn't live without devoting all my time to it. I love it as the only end of my life. Everything I do connected with it gives me intense pleasure. But still, I don't see why the whole world should be taken up with art, demand its credentials, and on that subject give free rein to its own stupidity. Museums are just a lot of lies, and the people who make art their business are mostly impostors."

Short version: WOW!
Longer version: Yes obviously as the title gives away (duh) Picasso indeed was a genius. This book tells the reader about his personal life, his work. It explains his paintings, his sculptures. It gives you extra information about the colors, Picasso's motives and how he viewed his art (& art in general). Of course his paintings are all over the pages along with some of his quotes. It's brilliant, he was brilliant and extremely talented, no wonder about it!

"This will do, won't it? What else should I do? What could I possibly add? Everything has been said." (& shown in his masterpieces obviously)

If you are into art give it a try, or even if you are not and you just want to learn about it and about Picasso.

[Iulia Sabou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Câteva cuvinte de-ale lui Picasso care au sădit niște idei încurajatoare pentru un om care iubește arta și încearcă să nu o lase în stand by în sufletul său.

"Nu există nici un moment în care să zici: am făcut treabă bună azi, iar mâine e duminică și pot să mă odihnesc. De îndată ce te oprești, trebuie să pornești din nou. Poți lăsa o pânză deoparte, spunând că nu te vei mai apropia niciodată de ea. Dar niciodată nu ajungi la ."

"Întotdeauna am pictat pentru mine. Nu mi-am luat niciodată asupra-mi povara căutării. Pictez ceea ce văd, uneori într-o formă, alteori în alta. Nu zăbovesc prea mult cu gândul, nici nu experimentez. Când simt că vreau să spun ceva, spun acel lucru în felul în care cred că se cuvine să-l spun. Există doar artiști buni și artiști mai puțini buni."

[Daniel Wichers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het boek neemt je op een hele boeiende manier mee door de ontwikkeling van Picasso zijn kunstwerken en kunstperiodes.

[Valter O · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Cubism is no different from any other school of painting. The same principles and the same elements are common to all. The fact that for a long time cubism has not been understood and that even today there are people who cannot see anything in it, means nothing. I do not read English, and an English book is a blank book to me. This does not mean that the English language does not exist, and why should I blame anyone but myself if I cannot understand what I know nothing about?"
-Picasso

[Ethan Louie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was sick how Picasso was comparing himself to Rembrandt suggesting that he himself was the goat of etching. Picasso was giving off Gojo vibes on that page. I thought he was the goat too until I learned that he decided to court a 17-year-old when he was 45 and married.

[Gerry Parle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonable general overview of Picasso & his work. Some of the critiques on his work were either pseudo intellectual or intellectual beyond my appreciation.

[Dodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished watching a mini series about Picasso and wanted to know more. Picasso thought being a good artist was more important then being a good person. He was an asshole and cruel to the people around him. To love him was to hate him. This book had a bit of information about him but main discussion this work. The book showed this painting during this blue period, cubism and his most famous mural that he showcased in the Spanish Pavilion in the 1937 World’s Fair in Pairs.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A concise and broad biography of Picasso focusing on his art and how it changed from one period to another. I hesitate to say that the art 'evolved' because Picasso seemed to dislike the idea, arguing that each piece was designed to speak to the time it was created, and to express a specific idea, and that there was no evolution towards a more perfect 'art.'

[Lourdes Cambridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVERYTHING BUT FIDELITY. HOW I SURVIVED PICASSSO. STEVE MARTIN'S IF EINSTEIN MET PICASSO.

[HansBlog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kurzer Auszug a.d. viel längeren Rezension m. Links u. Hintergründen i. m. Blog:

Der großformatige, biegbar gebundene Band erinnert an ein teures, dünnes, exklusives Farbmagazin. Die Urheberschaft ist mir nicht völlig klar. Laut Impressum:
Ingo F. Walther: scheinbar Hauptverfasser, aber auch mitverantwortlich für Produktion, Typographie und Herstellung (übrigens auch am Matisse-Band des Taschenverlags an "Redaktion und Produktion" beteiligt)
Matthias Buck, Rainer Metzger, Bernhard Serexhe: Mitarbeit und Redaktion
Der Text machte mich teils sprachlos. Warum bringt ein (vermeintlich) cooler Schuppen wie der Taschen-Verlag solchen Sülzschwulst aufs gestrichene Papier (Zitat S. 6):
Was nun Picassos Biographie betrifft, so beginnt sie recht eigentlich weit vor der Geburt. Denn das Unbegreifliche, Unvorstellbare – eben Geniale – muß nach Meinung der Biographen seine Ursache und Quelle woanders haben.
Oder hier, S. 86:
…ein Spätestwerk andauernder Wiederholungen, Kristallisierungen eines Augenblicks von zeitlosem Glück in dem Bewußtsein letztendlicher Vergeblichkeit.
Auch die vielen Picasso-Zitate in den Randspalten klingen oft wolkig bizarr:
der Künstler ist wie ein Sammelbecken von Empfindungen… (S. 18)
Von allem – Hunger, Elend, Unverständnis des Publikums – ist der Ruhm bei weitem das Schlimmste…. Es ist traurig. Es ist wahr. Erfolg ist etwas sehr Wichtiges! (S.26)
Zudem erscheinen diese Zitate ohne Quellenangabe oder auch nur Jahreszahl.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Picasso (Basic Art)" (1991, Taschen) by German art historian Ingo F. Walther

A richly illustrated and accessible introduction to one of the most memorable personalities of modern art: Pablo Picasso. After visiting Museo Picasso in Málaga myself two years ago, I wanted to have a better overview over his life, and this book was perfect for the bigger picture.

This book, part of Taschen’s Basic art series, offers a full overview of Pablo Picasso’s life and work, from his early training in Spain to his Blue and Rose periods, the radical invention of Cubism with Georges Braque, and later experiments that carried him into fame.

The book is structured chronologically, giving you a sense of Picasso’s constant evolution, how he refused to be trapped in one artstyle for too long. The writing is clear and informative, always paired with images so you’re never told about an art piece without having it visually in front of you. For anyone new to Picasso, this is a fantastic starting point, as it is just over 100 pages, which makes it more of a gateway than a deep study.

★ Backstory of the book:
The Basic Art series by Taschen was designed to bring major artists to a wide audience: affordable, beautifully printed, and approachable.

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could they have made the type in this book any smaller? I get that it’s meant to be a condensed overview of Picasso’s work, but they shouldn’t make the type so small that it becomes difficult to read unless it’s meant to be a minimal amount and basically supplementary to the images (which in this case, it’s clearly not). That being said, the book did meet its goal in providing a brief and accessible overview of the artist; the author went into just enough detail that we gained a reasonable glimpse into Picasso’s life and development as an artist, and a reasonable range of imagery accompanied the text. I fully meant to get Taschen’s full publication on Picasso rather than this condensed version, but it’s still a good starter on the subject and it definitely convinced me to delve further into exploring this artist.

[Mich Herondale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para serles honesta, no conocía mucho sobre este icónico artista, solo conocía los datos generales que la mayoría de las personas conoce... y tengo que decirles que las pocas cosas que sabía no me daban ni las más mínima idea de quien era este artista, así que mientras iba leyendo, fui conociendo más sobre su arte y su vida, y enserio quede fascinada!
Este libro ha sido muy interesante, la forma de narrar la vida de este increíble artista me pareció excelente y muy intrigante.
Además, adoré que agregaran frases de Picasso al lado del texto, ya que puedes conocer mejor su forma de pensar, algo que me disfrute enormemente y qué me ayudó mucho a entender su trabajo.

Reseña completa aquí: http://bloglittledreams.blogspot.com/...

[asjabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5🌟
Picasso był chyba ideałem artysty. przez większość czasu prowadził szczęśliwe do znudzenia życie prywatne, a przy tym malował zachwycające obrazy. nie miał określonego stylu przez całe życie, cały czas eksplorował chyba większość możliwych dziedzin sztuki, wprowadzając techniki o których inni nawet nie myśleli. naprawdę fascynujący człowiek, choć niestety ta biografia momentami naprawdę przynudzała. nie podobały mi się niepotrzebne opisy, podczas gdy ważne rzeczy zostały często ledwie wspomniane. podsumowując: materiał świetny, ale wykonanie raczej średnie.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

when you begin a picture, you often make some pretty discoveries. You must be on guard against these. Destroy it, do it over several times. With each destruction of a beautiful discovery, the artist does not really suppress it, but rather transforms it, condenses it, makes it more substantial. What comes out in the end is the result of discarded finds. Otherwise you become your own connoisseur. After all, i don't buy my own pictures.

Man, this book was awesome. Picasso, the sad, wallowing genius that he was had the insight of a philosopher-king. It seems that he was always keenly aware of his intentions. ANd it was his intentions that made him such a strong and provocative artist. He knew what art was by the age of 14, and with that knowledge began a furtive journey to manipulate our understandings into simplicity of form, so that there would not be so much bureaucracy about the mundanity of details, but rather the presence of what Art is supposed to mean:

the different styles i have been using in my art must not be seen as an evolution, or as steps towards an unknown ideal of painting. Everything i have ever made was made for the present and with the hope that it will always remain in the present. I have never had time for the idea of searching. Whenever i have wanted to express something, i have done so with out thinking of the past or the future. I have never made radically different experiments. Whenever i have wanted to say something, i have said it in such a way as i believed i had to. Different times inevitably require different methods of expression. This does not imply either evolution or progress, but it is a matter of following the idea one wants to express and the way in which one wants to express it.

Art pieces do not have a meaning that can be derived. If it could be spoken in words that is the way it would come about. Interpretation is internal, hence Picasso's Hegelian notion of his artwork being substantial in its presence and universal for its eternal relation to that presence. He defied style and let the muse speak for him, or rather the muse channeled through him and he relented his style, his fame, his arduor for her beauty:

you can really only ever work against something. Even against oneself. That is very important. Most painters get out their little cake-tins and they start making cakes. The same cakes, agianst and again. And they are very happy with them. A painter should never do what people expect of him. Style is the wrost element of the painter. Art does not find its style until they are dead. It is always stronger.

The secret to Picasso was that he found more important the structure, the research and experiment within the painting than he found the crux of the painting, the insight. He was a scientist. He was conducting experiments and deriving formulas and proofs by a process of patient acceptance of the form which translated into the piece of art:

I cannot bear people who talk about Beauty. What is Beauty? In painting you have to talk about problems! Paintings are nothing but research and experiment. I never paint a picture as a work of art. Everything is research. I keep researching, and in this constant enquiry there is a logical development.

That is why he was a genius, because he respected the canvas as an organism, and his painting came about from a steady unleashing of its life force; he let the painting become itself:

It is my misfortune--and probably my delight--to use things as my passions tell me. What a miserable fate for a painter who adores blondes to have to stop himself putting them into a picture because they don't go with the basket of fruit! How awful for a painter who loathes apples to have to use them all the time because they go with the cloth. I put all the things i like into my pictures. The things--so much the worse for them; they just have to put up with it.

This book chronicles Picasso's life through his paintings. What makes him a genius and how he managed to stay in the game by always remaining constantly aware. Even as his personal life deformed into a madness thanks to the war and his relationship problems, picasso was able to form the life of his genius into a chronicle of historical notion, nothing was gained more than an infinite sense of humanity which Picasso found constantly in discovering his paintings.

Walther shows, for instance in "Female Nude and SMoker," “the way in which the two people's eyes meet and their hands touch shows that the act of painting had become a substitute for the act of sexual intercourse. Thus, by means of his art, Picasso revealed to us his current state of mind. In this picture the painter has become a voyeur, but his glances are no longer passionate or irresistible, and the model is now able not only to withstand it, but also to return it, as if she was accusing the artist of using the female body so frequently in his art. It seems that painting was the only relic of days gone by, because nothing else that used to give him satisfaction was still at his disposal--nothing except his art. Under the guise of the painter-and-model theme Picasso gave a personal justification for his indefatigable creativity: the picture was meant to prove that he was still alive.”

And because of his success, he is still alive today.

[Mark Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent introduction to the great and prolific force of nature, very neat color reproductions of his work.
Many books out there on Picasso, this serves as a dip your toes into the water of Picasso's world.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

this lowkey made me like Picasso, still don't like most of his work but thats not the fault of the book.
i enjoyed reading this, except for the 3 column sections, they were a pain to read and also messed with the chronology

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of P's work.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that he fathered so many different styles is remarkable. He is by far my favourite.

[Seher Kader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply researched and carefully written by the author. The book consists of nearly every detail of Pablo Picasso and i learned many things about him. I recommend this book to everyone.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picasso rules but this book was a mess

[Hazel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive and factual overview of Picasso's lifetime and works.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book es definitely fantastic

[Lil Winborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picasso was onto something!! Love the cubism phase and his landscapes! ❤️ As an artist it was the PERFECT Book to read!! 👩🏼‍🎨

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good descriptions of his work and was nicely divided so that we could understand every phase in his life and how it impacted his art. Personally, I preferred his later works.

[Tim Pendry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the excellent Taschen series on individual artists that retails at a phenomenally low price. I nearly gave it the full five stars but there are one or two attempts to over-explain the works that just halted me from that accolade.

Nevertheless, this is an excellent introduction to Picasso that I think is superior to the older Roland Penrose introduction in the Phaidon series which has just a touch too much hagiography for my taste. In fact, Walther's book made me appreciate Picasso as an artist and as a man far more than did the attempt of Penrose to deify him. This was a man who was, indeed, greater than his image. I ended up actually liking him a great deal regardless of the art!

I am still not convinced that the work in his old age was overly-significant except to himself but it has its integrity. It may even be argued that a genius with a sustained commitment to recording his declining powers and the effects of old age is doing a curious and unique service to humanity and that perhaps we should consider this late body of work of importance for that reason alone. We live with a prejudice (which I share) for innovation and youth but there is little justification for that position other than cultural ideology.

The reproductions are excellent and much more balanced than in the Phaidon collection, with more emphasis on telling the story of Picasso in the round and much less on the 'great works' syndrome. This story is one of remarkable creativity based on one simple truth - that art has no purpose other than the expression of the artist's artistry. Picasso never seems to have believed the propaganda surrounding him, never seems to have tried to search for meanings and saw his work as fundamentally the artistic expression of himself.

This is a form of egoism, of course, but not necessarily one of pride. Rather it is one of exploration of doubt. If we non-artists can dream of constructing ourselves as a work of art, Picasso's art is the outward expression of that purpose - the recorded expression in art of one man over time. This makes his recorded work an account of a man who had amazing talent from early youth to great old age - not a continuous vision in form but a continuous vision in underlying content. The works of the old age are thus wholly consonant in fundamental intent with what went on before.

A sub-text of the book and so reflective of Picasso's ouevre is that, for all his innovation, he was an artist very much within the Western tradition, despite the influence of so-called primitivist non-European sculpture on 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' and other works. Again, this becomes clear in direct references to the 'great' masters of the Western tradition in his old age (not to my taste) but also in the classicism of the period between Cubism and the radical works of the 1930s.

There is great beauty in the apparent ugliness and disproportion of Picasso's work. I keep coming back not to the obvious paintings like Guernica but to the almost Vatican-purple, blues and blacks of 'Still Life with Steer's Skull' of 1942 which is almost the materialisation of the electric in colour. This book is highly recommended as a very sound introduction to the artist.

[Ugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. The book is subtitled "Genius of the Century", but it completely fails to convey why Picasso deserves such an enormous accolade. In fact, it doesn't really even seem to try. There's nothing in the text to indicate that Picasso was more skillful, insightful, imaginative or important than his contemporaries. The book picks up its two stars for two reasons: firstly, the production qualities, as with the rest of this Taschen range, are very high; and secondly, there are lots of quotes from the man himself, several of which are very informative. In fact, three short passages seem to say an awful lot more than the main text says in its entirety:

"I object to the idea that there should be three or four ways of interpreting my pictures. There ought to be no more than one..."

"People want to find a meaning in everything and everyone. That's the disease of our age..."

"An artist... is only an insignificant part of the world. No more importance should be attached to him than to plenty of other things which please us in the world..."

[Natasha P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simplemente impresionante. Desde los pensamientos mas oscuros, azules, negros y rosas de Picasso, hasta el inicio de una época moderna, el cubismo, y el final de su misma vida; los motivos y aspiraciones del considerado "Padre del collage y cubismo" ademas de algunos que otros detalles de la terrible vida amorosa que tuvo, hacen de este libro una obra maestra para cualquier amante de lo físico y el arte.

Contiene obras tan maravillosas como "La vida" "Mujer llorando" "Mendigos en la playa" "Guernica" y una de mis favoritas "La mujer de la corneja" y "Minotauromaquia" y las explicación de las mismas obras, aunque, la opinión y lo que transmite cada una de estas, debe ser interpretada de acuerdo a lo que cada uno de nosotros percibimos; después de todo es arte y su deber es deleitarnos.

«Si se sabe exactamente lo que se quiere hacer, ¿por qué hacerlo entonces? Puesto que se sabe, ya no tiene interés. es mejor hacer otra cosa.»
PICASSO

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an introduction to the life and work of the artist Picasso.

This short book didn’t really give me an insight into Picasso’s motivation / driving force or why his work was so widely acclaimed. I found only a couple of the pieces illustrated (such as - The Reservoir, Horta de Ebro, Portrait of AmbroiseVollard and Bathers with a Toy Boat) grabbed my attention. Some of the most interesting comments were Picasso’s quotes which at least give an idea of his inner thoughts.

I found the change of the text formatting / style in a couple of sections off-putting.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This large book makes you feel like you own a Picasso itself. I remember when I first glanced through it to find the 1917 paintings of Manola and Olga, Picasso really changed and developed through the years. What a surprise to think of the drastic changes. He seemed to be everlastingly pushing through life with his metomorphisis of styles. The Child with the dove showed a tender side to an artist that expressed so many other emotions.