PICASSO AND HIS ABSTRACT ART:
«There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.» (Picasso, cited in theartstory.org, 2014).
Fig 1 «The Camel» by Picasso
The Spanish-born Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was one of the pioneers in merging figurism into traditional expressionist paintings (theartstory.org, 2014).
Fig 2 Pencil drawing by Picasso from a 1911 issue of Camera Work
The above picture (Fig. 2) is found on the web site belonging to the Harry Ransom Centre (the University of Texas at Austin) and is an early abstract drawing made by Picasso that became published in the 1911 issue of «Camera Work» which was an illustrated Quarterly Magazine devoted to Photography. It was published at the time abstract images still were new and shocking, and this early abstract drawing by Picasso became heavily criticised. In a text from 1912 collected by JSTOR (from 19th and early 20th century American art journals found in the libraries of prominent New York City museums) one can read, on p. 752, as a response to this particular publication, that;
During my research, I discovered Picasso’s publication in Camera work, in fact looks very similar to his work below (see fig 3) from 1911-12 which he titled Ma Jolie. On the website pablopicasso.org they root the origin to this painting to Picasso’s frequent visits at the Parisian Music hall – as «My Jolie» (My pretty girl) was the refrain of a popular song played at this particular place. In this painting Picasso cleverly employes the multiple modes of representation, such as when he «combined language (in the black lettering), symbolic meaning (in the treble clef), and near abstraction (in the depiction of his subject)» (quoted from http://www.pablopicasso.org/).
Fig 3 «Ma Jolie» (1911-12) by Picasso
PICASSO AND HIS GRAPHIC DESIGN WORK:
Picasso is most known as a painter, however, as a member of the 1920s Avant-Garde Paris, Picasso had a period (1927-1931) where he worked as an illustrator. His employer was the great French publisher of fine prints and books; Ambroise Vollard (Lieberman, 1952). These illustrations were rather non-litereal, however, some of the illustrations he made were of a more semi abstract nature and one could «read» the painting more easily compare to his earlier abstract drawings (e.g the one published in «Camera Work» in 1911 (see fig 2).
For instance the etchings Picasso did create for the book «La Tauromaquia o arte de torear (Touramachy or the Art of Bullfighting) by José Delgado, were of a more semi or quasi-abstract character (see Fig 4) (The artstory.org, 2014). The reason for that the twenty-six etchings he created for this particular book have become little known, is because this book was never released. This particular theme (the conflict between bull, horse and matador), however, obsessed Picasso for many years thereafter (Lieberman, 1952). For its first time in March this year, one was able to see all the original twenty-six etchings brought together at the Mana contemporary Museum in Jersey City (NY). The exhibition was called “Pablo Picasso: La Tauromaquia”.
Fig 4 Unreleased book illustration (1926-1930), by Picasso (about the conflict between bull, horse and matador).
In in 1957, Picasso made the book cover for his friend and photographer, Lucien Clergue, when he [Clerque] published his first book, Corps Memorable . The book included a series of nudes illustrating the poems of Paul Eluard (Cooper, 2014). If one sees the illustration separately from the image (Fig 5), it does not make too much sense, however, when presented together with the photography, the painting itself become more literal.
Fig 5 Book Cover Illustration (1957) by Clerque and Picasso.
References:
Art and Progress. (1912). JSTOR, Arts & Sciences VIII Collection. Vol. 3, No. 12. New York.
Lieberman, W. (1952). Picasso: His Graphic Art. The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art, 19(2), p.3.
Online sources:
Cooper, K (2014, Published on November 28th) The Guardian [Online Newspaper article] At: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/nov/28/lucien-clergue (Acessed on 10.12.2014).
Galerie Michael (2014) [Gallery homepage] At: http://galeriemichael.com/bullfighting-picasso-etchings-for-la-tauromaquia/http://www.theartstory.org/artist-picasso-pablo.htm (Accessed on 10.12.2014).
Mana Contemporary (2014) [Exhibition info website] At: http://www.manacontemporary.com/exhibitions-2014-pablo-picasso
Pablopicasso.org (2009-2014) [Biography website] At: http://www.pablopicasso.org/
The artstory.org (2014) [Art info website] At: http://www.theartstory.org/artist-picasso-pablo.htm (Accessed on 10.12.2014).
The artstory.org (2014) [Art info website] At: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-neo-expressionism.htm (Accessed on 10.12.2014).
Images:
Figure 1: Picasso, P. The Camel [Ink drawing] At: http://www.art.com/products/p10340369-sa-i812384/pablo-picasso-the-camel.htm (Accessed on 10.12.2014).
Figure 2: Picasso, P. Image published in the photo magasine Camera Work (1913) [Pencil drawing] At: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/educator/modules/teachingthetwenties/zoom.php?urn=urn:utlol:american.txu-hrc-1207d&theme=modern§ion=new&subsect=4&sov=1 (Accessed on 10.12.2014).
Figure 3: Picasso, P. Ma Jolie (1911-1912) [Oil on canvas] At: http://www.pablopicasso.org/ma-jolie.jsp#prettyPhoto%5Bimage1%5D/0/ (Acessed on 10.12.2014).
Figure 4: Picasso, P. Unreleased illustration for the book La Taurommaquiaw [aquatint painting] http://galeriemichael.com/bullfighting-picasso-etchings-for-la-tauromaquia/ (Accessed on 10.12.2014).
Figure 5: Clergue, L. and Picasso, P. (1957) [Book cover illustration] At:http://www.canalacademie.com/ida2451-Ma-saga-de-corps-memorable-Eluard-Valentine-Hugo-Picasso-Cocteau-Pierre-Seghers.html (Accessed on 10.12.2014).