In this part of the portfolio, I am going to start by introducing the artist and then I going to analyze the two artifacts that I chose and demonstrate my approach.
I have always admired Picasso as an artist and felt attached to his work , The Picasso Museum in Malaga [which is where I am also from], which houses some of his less-known pieces such as his painted plates is one of the very first museums I visited and that got me interested in art. I have later had the pleasure of viewing his artwork pretty much in every important museum I have visited like the Prado in Madrid and The Pompidou in Paris to name a couple. Furthermore, I felt inclined to choose Picasso to define Surrealism because Even though he is better known for cubism, personally knew that he had had a Surrealist period due to lots of his paintings involving bullfights that are mainly located in his museums in Malaga following said artistic style. Surrealism and Cubism are confused by many, therefore I chose two of his pieces that my opinion embodies both styles and his interpretation of both.
The Artist: Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain in 1881 and is one of the world’s best known artists of the 20th Century, known for his originality he was a pioneer in many artistic styles, and he was one to follow trends but also by creating his own. Not only a painter but a so considered man of the arts because he was also a sculpturer, printmaker, ceramist, and Theatre designer. He was always interested in Art, like many artists his first works were very classical, he was inspired by realism, however, this changed when he moved to Paris and became extremely experimental. He followed, and even created various artistic styles and had various so-called ‘etapes’ or periods in his artwork, and was influenced by current events happening in the world and his life to paint or sculpt, using different mediums. He died in 1973 however his art has remained iconic and to this day preserves a sense of mystery and nuance, it is nowadays found around the world in some of the most prestigious museums.
Picasso and Cubism ,The Guernica
Perhaps Picasso’s most known artistic style was Cubism, a style in which he created it (alongside George Braque) embodied his perspective of fantasy one of his best-known quotes in regards to said artistic style Everything you can imagine is real. His desire to create anthropometric humans and animals using geometry quickly defined cubism and his art.
The Guernica is out of all of his Cubist pieces the one I selected due to its significance in the artistic movement. It was painted in 1937 and it was painted as part of a protest against the tragedy of Guernica a small village in the Basque country that was bombed by the Nazis and that mostly killed civilians. The painting depicts the devastating scene, and the use of color which I will later discuss, is quite significant due to its mainly black and grey color pallet, and use of symbolism, yet still following Picasso's infamous cubism.
Picasso and Surrealism, The Bullfight
Surrealism was a cultural movement, that influenced film theatre, art, and many sectors of people's lives. This movement started as an evasion from the harsh reality of the First World War, However, I am going to focus on the art of the period because as previously stated this period entailed. This period was known to depict fantastical scenes like the works of Salvador Dali, or giant men with apples in their faces by Rene Magritte. This movement was one of the first to consider abstract art as a more commonly accepted art form, it was the jumping point for many other styles such as cubism, and even if the movement was prior, it inspired many artists of the 20th century.
The Bullfight, death of the Matador is the piece of Picasso's surrealist paintings I selected, it was painted in 1933 and it was part of a series he did following the art style.
My Approach
I selected the Guernica and the Bullfight Because I wanted to compare the two pieces. After all, there are similarities between them, even though they are in different artistic styles and have different purposes. As previously stated the Guernica depicts a scene of war and death, and the Bullfight also depicts a scene of death and a fight between a man and a bull, therefore I wanted to take the similarities and differences to prove the correlation between the two styles. My objective is to prove that both surrealism and cubism marry quite well and that was a period in which Picasso alternated his style to adapt to the surrealist period. Furthermore, I want to be able to identify the differences between the two styles and what entails cubism vs surrealism, as stated they seem to merge in Picasso's work.
Did you like this example?
Yes
No
Cite this paper
Essay on Picasso Surrealism.
(2024, May 20). Edubirdie. Retrieved December 22, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/essay-on-picasso-surrealism/
“Essay on Picasso Surrealism.” Edubirdie, 20 May 2024, edubirdie.com/examples/essay-on-picasso-surrealism/
Essay on Picasso Surrealism. [online].
Available at: <https://edubirdie.com/examples/essay-on-picasso-surrealism/> [Accessed 22 Dec. 2024].
Essay on Picasso Surrealism [Internet]. Edubirdie.
2024 May 20 [cited 2024 Dec 22].
Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/essay-on-picasso-surrealism/
copy
Stuck on your essay?
