Book Description

Previous studies of Picasso's involvement with the classical have tended to concentrate on the period immediately following the First World War, and to attribute that involvement to both the rise of political conservatism in France and the domesticating influence of the artist's marriage to Olga Koklova. Focusing instead on the later, classicizing prints of the 1930s, this book offers a radically different view of Picasso and the "classical" -- a view that aligns his work much more closely with Surrealist, and specifically Bataillean, revisions of antiquity.

The book's argument is built around detailed analyses of several separate print series: Picasso's illustrations for Ovid's Metamorphoses, the etchings of the Vollard Suite, and The Minotauromachy. Common to all of them, the book shows, is a strong engagement not only with the classical, but with the viewer. In the latter, Picasso's prints are clearly at odds with the understanding of the relationship between classical art and its audience that prevailed throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries -- an understanding that held the work's purported autonomy to mirror the viewer's own. By exposing that autonomy as a fantasy, Picasso opens the "classical" work and its viewer alike to the entanglements of desire and the dissolution of boundaries it inevitably brings.

Much of the argument turns on close readings of key Surrealist texts by Georges Bataille, Michel Leiris, and Roger Caillois. Even more important, however, are the prints' numerous references, heretofore unnoticed, to specific works by, among others, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Goya. These references effectively create an alternative "classical" tradition out of which Picasso's etchings can be seen to have emerged. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Brings to life the great artist's first 25 years
I respond as a general reader and can attest that reading this work was very much like engaging in a talk with an erudite and witty and sympathic art loving friend. I say engaging as Mr Richardsom anticipates questions and provides explanations. He is also revealing, at least to my mind, about many of the important figures of the early 20th century, such as Gertrude Stein, but as well, the social and artistic revolutions that were occuring. Picasso himself, however, is determinedly apolitical.The illustrations are useful, plentiful and conveniently located adjacent to the text. Chapters may stand on their own - for example Chapter 28 "Summer at Gosol" has many interesting features that show the artist's creative energy and source of inspiration at the time, the relationship with Ferdinande contrasted with his admiration for a ninety year old patriarch of the tiny mountain village, there perilous journey by mule in and out of Gosol, the atmosphere and the creative joy that Picasso experiences, not to mention the breakthough in his work that occurs at this time. The paperback is sturdily bound and overall, as a read, I found the "story", if you will, a most engaging read.

Classic Biography
There should be no doubt that the first two volumes of Richardson's Picasso can be ranked alongside Ellman on both Wilde and Joyce or with Michael Holroyd's bio of Lytton Strachey. If a biographer loves his subject then that is no bad thing. Richard Ellman wrote his bios quite clearly in the style of his subjects and by so doing brought us closer to them.Ellman was obviously completely mesmerised by Oscar Wilde thus the greater the tragedy.

Picasso was no such doomed figure. If a ever a man was blessed with talent, opportunity, lovers sycophants,wealth and long life to enjoy them then this little Iberian colossus had it all. Richardson dotes on his client in obvious awe and why not? The book is painstakingly researched and pulls up from being pedantic by the author's ability to describe the historical firmament in which Picasso's star shone. These bit players (Max Jacob, Apollinaire, Braque, etc.) are giants in their own right and yet it is only Matisse who comes out ultimately unscathed. Mr. Richardson has his own favourites and these are evidently Picasso's too.

It is made plain that despite the comet of Picasso's life and times and all the bright shining lights his work remained inviolate and the unquestionable raison d'etre of his existence . Picasso takes obvious liberties with his friendships and lovers. If this is how a hugely successful personality can behave then Picasso can obviously be a complete swine. Mr.Richardson paints a picture of a man who, for good or evil, is able to absorb the passed and present literate and plastic art talents and synthesise them into his own staggering vision.

It is the unmitigated audacity of Picasso to compare his work on a par with El Greco, Zurbaran, Velazquez, etc. He does though concede their greatness. Nevertheless he has not the slightest doubt that he belongs in that realm. Such nerve!

Picasso was no monk (as the elderly Braque has sometimes been described) and evidently had an ego to match his talents. As a biography Richardson's work has to be amazing to read and leave us hungry for more. It also has to leave a bitter residue as evidence of Picasso's sometimes shabby behaviour.

How would any of us behave if such greatness were thrust upon us? That is simply one of the unanswerable questions a great biography poses.

Now, where are vols. III and IV?

Monumental but readable too
Richardson in his landmark biography of Picasso gingerly walks through the minefields that have been laid in the 100+ years that Picasso has been on the art scene. Picasso is near enough to being our contemporary that it would have been nearly impossible for Richardson to have treated him fairly in the minds of many. One of the foremost issues recently raised, is his attitude towards women and his treatment of his lovers and wives. As for what can be gleaned from this and Vol II, Picasso was probably about average in this respect for a man of his time. Richardson seems to have intelligently not taken the bait and endulged in defending the past against the present.

Since Richardson knew Picasso as an intimate friend, there is an air of familiarity that pervades the work. I really enjoyed the feeling of immediacy and of being there when it happened that Richardson has so skillfully woven into the book. In comparison, Simon Schama's monumental biography of Rembrandt (and Rubens) reads more like a peek at the past. Schama can be excused since the passing of nearly 400 years makes writing in the immediate mode difficult and maybe even a little pretentious.

Though definitely not hagiaography, Richardson does treat his subject almost like a doting father, but loving his child warts and all. As to the work being a defense of Picasso in his rivalry with Matisse, one could only read that into the work if one was a rabid Matisse fan. I'm sorry but, Matisse being the giant that he was, was no Picasso.

The book flows like a river. I was truly transported back into Picasso's life and social scene. I found the artistic analysis of his work to be on target and written without much academic showing off or mumbo-jumbo. If you are looking for a Post-Modernist deconstruction of Picasso, it (thankfully!) isn't here. The historical coverage of Picasso's social circle is excellent and made me want to have been able to attend some of the Picasso's tertulias at Lapin Agile. What an exciting time it must have been.

I flashed on Roger Shattuck's book The Banquet Years, which also transports the reader back to Paris in the years 1895 to WW I. Shattuck's book would be a good companion piece or primer for the Richardson series.

I saw Richardson give a lecture in 1998 at the College of Santa Fe. He does appear to be along in years and is definitely no Lapin Agile himself. From the gleanings of an after lecture discussion in the hallway with Richardson, it appears that Marylin McCauley, his collaborator on the project, is equally a writer and Picasso scholar and will be the torchbearer for the future editions. My own suspicions are that she may have been the major writer on Vol II. Since Vol II ends only in 1917, there appears to be at least 2 and possibly 3 more volumes to come. This is truly a monumental work and one that reads well. It could have easily turned out to be a "reference" biography reading like a bushel of note cards strung together.

I highly recommend it and the whole series. (I am confident enough that the ones to come will be as exciting.) Not only good brain medicine for a Modern Art enthusiast but fun reading too.

I wanted to give it the fourth star, but...
I think a good biographer should present the life of his subject and perhaps provide some analysis, taking into account what has happened since the subject's life happened. And for most of this biography, Richardson does that. But by the end of this first volume, Richardson has gone from chronicler to defender and mouthpiece. Naturally, Richardson prefers Picasso to Matisse in the greatest rivalry in 20th century art. (That's why he's writing a Picasso and not a Matisse bio, presumably.) But instead of presenting the viewpoints of Picasso and his band, Richardson actively takes sides, joining Picasso in berating Matisse. That's not a biographer's role and it cheapens this biography. The last 100 pages of the book read more like a rock star bio written by an adoring fan (Dave Marsh's book on Springsteen is a good comparison) instead of by a historic tome. So if you prefer Picasso to Matisse and enjoy Picasso's side of the rivalry, you'll likely give Richardson that fourth star. But that aside, this is quite a good biography. It provides insight, understanding and tells so fascinating stories along the way. It's a must-read for lovers of 20th century art. For a more neutral look at the Matisse-Picasso rivalry, read Hilary Spurling's bio of Matisse. The characterizations of the Steins, in particular, are markedly different. ... Read more

Book Description

Although Picasso's masterful and often witty treatment of newsprint spanned most of his artistic career, until now, with the exception of the period of the papiers colls (1912-14), it has remained a largely unexplored area of his creative genius. From an early age Picasso was fascinated with newspaper, having written and produced his own family newspaper at just thirteen. He developed a fascination for the newspaper as object, with all its ordinariness and popularity. As his career progressed, Picasso used newspaper as much for its visual as for its physical qualities - as material in collage, as the support for large-scale line drawings, or, in combination with its printed photographs, for dramatic and often playfully grotesque sketches. Newspaper cuttings and headlines later became influential in Picasso's experimentation with Surrealism, and remained a primary material in his painting, sculpture and printmaking throughout the rest of his career. Much of this work has remained unpublished until now.

Anne Baldassari explores the political ramifications of Picasso's use of newspaper reports - including those on the Spanish Civil War and Guernica - and shows how his work on newsprint made use of what the text said as much as what it looked like. During the Occupation of France, using newsprint as a support became a pretext for the defacement of Nazi propaganda, and Picasso was always ready to transform apparently innocuous press photographs into sometimes comic, sometimes disturbing burlesques of personal, political or sexual life - and often all three at once. He subverted the press, using his scissors, ink, pencil and paint to make his own meanings.

For Picasso, art was inextricably tied to the 'real', and newspapers, essential to the social construction of reality, could not have been more appropriate a medium for his radical reassessment of the relationship between art and its immediate context. Nearly 200 of these intriguing works and documents, mainly from the artist's own archive, are brought together here for the first time in this elegantly designed volume, which examines the enduring fascination that the most ephemeral of printed productions held for the most extraordinary and influential artist of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Book Description

Already published in France, Spain and Germany to wide acclaim, this book presents an insider’s portrait of Pablo Picasso, the women in his life and the Picasso family. The author, Picasso’s grandson Olivier Widmaier-Picasso spoke extensively with relatives, friends, and contemporaries of the artist and discovered unknown information about Picasso’s life. Correcting previous portrayals of the artist which have been highly critical of his personal relationships and treatment of women, this book offers a balanced and sensitive account of his life. Olivier Widmaier-Picasso—whose grandmother was the artist’s muse and lover Marie-Thérèse—answers allegations about everything from the artist’s sexuality and relation to money and politics to the feuding over his estate and the author’s own handling of the artist’s legacy. This compassionate, penetrating biography, which includes never before published family photographs, offers a unique perspective as it explores the double-edged sword that is fame and talent. ... Read more

Book Description

The career of the greatest painter of the twentieth century was played out in the shadow of Eros -- and of Thanatos.At the age of eight, Picasso's first drawings already displayed a precocious interest in the female form, and in the days leading up to his death he was still working obsessively on sketches of the female sex. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Picasso as life force
In their Preface to this remarkable book (published to accompany exhibitions in Paris, Montreal, and Barcelona) Guy Cogeval, Jean Clair, and Maria Teresa Ocana assert that all of the art of Pablo Picasso - whether visual or literary - was "guided by a specifically Spanish eroticism, a medley of sensuality and tenderness, of scatology and gluttony." Curator and editor Clair has assembled a group of erudite and sometimes thrilling essayists, and 350 or so plates of Picasso's most obviously erotic topics, whether sketches, paintings, sculpture - from his entire art-producing life (beginning at age 9!). Mythology, religion, linguistics, classical influences, and Picasso's upbringing and circumstances and adult life (among many other things) are all explored in the dozen essays that make this book such great reading.

Clair's own "The School of Darkness" is a heady and passionate appreciation of Picasso. He contributes right off to the decades-old debate regarding Picasso's view and treatment of women. He defends the artist and the man, rejecting portrayals of Picasso as " the ogre, the dark demon, the wife-eating Minotaur," quoting writer Micheline Sauvage's words on Don Juan: "Not the profaner of love, but the hero of profane love." Picasso possessed energy and drive that included prodigious eating, drinking, sexual expression, writing, the production of art, and more art.

Housekeeping out of the way, Clair's essay grows into something remarkable: part biography, part chant. If you read it aloud you might well amaze and delight yourself and your listener.

Annie Le Brun's "Painting in the Bedroom" successfully places Picasso's erotic sensibilities and drive in context and in comparison to other painters, whom she asserts (and proves) shared traits with Picasso. 'Diamond Made of All the Love of the Loves of Blood,' (the title comes from a diary entry of the artist) by Marie-Noelle Delorme is a fabulous compilation, effectively and subtlely organized, that shows Picasso the energetic and larger-than-life diarist - a passionate and powerful writer on love, bodies, intimate landscapes, and much more.

The illustrations - a "Chronological Catalogue of Exhibited Works," fill over 200 pages. The layout and the colors are good and the plates are big enough. There are oil paintings, etchings, drawings in pencil, colored pencil, chalk, ink, and charcoal; aquatint, drypoint, etchings; sculptures in wood, plaster, clay and bronze - and more. The earliest drawing is a copulation scene, "Donkey and She-Ass," done by a nine-year old Picasso - who as a schoolboy was already drawing confidently and well and, it can be argued, had already found his voice.

The works are of men, women, animals together, animals with people, blind men, lovers, voyeurs, brothel scenes, outsized genitalia, mythological beasts and people, nudes in classical poses, Cubist paintings on erotic themes, sketches of solicitude and tenderness and caring, playfully altered pin-ups from the 50's, visions of sexuality altered but undimmed by old age, and much more.

By virtue of its twelve strong, smart, passionate essays, and its 300 plates, this book becomes much more than the sum of its parts. Very worthwhile, and a great read. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If you had to choose just one book about Pablo Picasso, the most protean artist of the 20th century, what would you look for? Copious, good-quality reproductions. An authoritative account of the way his approach to painting was influenced by his personality, the women in his life, and his awareness of art made by others. An in-depth treatment of key works like Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (which Picasso memorably called his "first exorcism painting") and signature themes, like the half-man, half-animal Minotaur. Then there's the question of tone. Some books cast Picasso as a demigod or a destroyer. Others, like art historian John Richardson's A Life of Picasso, offer a more balanced, psychologically penetrating portrait of the artist.

Hefty, elegant, and inclusive, The Ultimate Picasso hits most, though not all, of these marks. It offers more than 1,200 reproductions (nearly 800 in color) spanning the artist's entire career. Smoothly translated from the French, the book weaves biographical detail and discussions of the art into a concise narrative. ("Olga became pregnant in the summer of 1920, and in Picasso's work forms blossomed and flesh took on the massive quality of stone.") The three authors are all experts--Léal and Bernadac are (respectively) present and former curators of the Musée Picasso in Paris, and Piot coauthored the catalogue raisonné of Picasso's sculpture. They clearly explain visual sources, duly acknowledge leading art historians' interpretations, and choose good quotes from contemporaries. Yet the text can be surprisingly skimpy. The 16-page section on Guernica, for example, has barely two pages of discussion about the painting and its genesis. The authors keep an extremely tight focus on their subject, with only as much mention of Picasso's contemporaries or the outside world as is absolutely necessary.

The major flaws, however, are the authors' hyperbolic view of their subject ("Picasso did not paint nature, but the suffering of the men and women of his time, creating from it beauty and truth") and the lack of any psychological insight about the repeated devastation Picasso wreaks on the female form. In this old-fashioned portrait of the male artist as genius, human failings do not exist, unless they belong to somebody else. --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Reviews (7)

the best picasso book ever!!
this book rocks so much it breaks the very laws that govern physics!! so much information, so many beautiful pictures, so dense.it seems to capture the very spirit of pablo picasso. it was give to me as a valentine's day gift, and it is one of my most prized books. this is a MUST purchase for any picasso fan.

Marie Manson was influenced by Picasso
When I look at Picasso paintings, I see how the artist and painter, Marie Manson, was influenced by him.Her paintins can be seen at www.canzone.org.

nothing much to say but incredible
To see tons of Picasso works in one book is nothing short of breathtaking. This is easily the best Picasso book that focuses on his paintings. What's incredible is to see the prolific amount of work he was capable of, and just what a inventive genius he was. Without a doubt the greatest Artist of the 20th century. Not all the works make sense, or are even recognizable as anything, but that was Picasso; his art was how he viewed the world, and how his own heart felt inside:confused, and out of place. His Cubism is nearly mathmatical, and very intriguing. IF you're interested in Picasso as more than that weird guy who made all those paintings i just don't get, come and check out this book to see all of what he was made of. You'll be amazed and inspired.

Plastic surgeons probably shouldn?tuse these for murals.
The Ultimate Picasso could easily defeat The Fabulous Braque and The Superlative Cézanne in an arena style cubist grand melee. It would be no contest, really. The Ultimate Picasso would open up with his patented synthetic slammer sending Cézanne right back through the analytical period. Braque would try to stun him with some multi-viewed complex patterns, but nothing can neutralize The Ultimate Picasso.
Braque might try a new tactic then: swinging wildly with his blinding colors. The Ultimate Picasso would roll towards the canvas, ducking under the swing that hits the helpless Cézanne full on. Then BAM! Right out of nowhere, The Ultimate Picasso lays the smackdown on both of them with his ball-buster blue period. Down for the count: The Ultimate Picasso is once again champion of the art world.

the ultimate picasso book for art enthusiasts.
The greatest part of this huge and informative art book is the literally hundreds of pictures that it contains. A very colorful book, which is a must for anyone interested in this highly acclaimed artist, whose Cubist style signified a new era for the art world. Picasso is one of the best artists, in my opinion, and this book gives an in-depth account of his life and his extraordinary career on canvas. ... Read more

Book Description

Picasso was an extremely prolific artist, and there remain many little-known, rarely seen works that have been held in private collections. In the fall of 2001, Milan's Palazzo Reale presents an exhibition of many of these works, which are also featured in this spectacular oversized art book. It is alive with splashes of brilliant color and is a distinguished addition to any art bookshelf, featuring 300 illustrations that cover oil paintings, aquatints, prints, sculpture, and terracottas, as well as textiles such as the Ballet Russe costumes Picasso created for Diaghilev. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

If you have interest in Picasso's techniques read this book
Gilot's representation of her time with Picasso is obviously the product of in depth journals. The potrayal of his monologues and mannerisms are detailed to a very fine degree. Overlooked, by the majority of reviewers of this work, is her painstaking detail into his artistic process. The level of detail she provides regarding the techniques Picasso used eclipses any other Picasso biography. Gilot documented his work with oils, sculpture, etching and many other mediums. Always the focus of reviews are Picasso as the great abuser, the great manipulator. Focus always seems to placed on the physcological aspects of his art, his life and their relationship. Seldom is the emphasis placed on the technical nature of this work. It is a large portion on this book. It is what really makes it worth the read...

Bloodless Passion
I have just finished John Richardson's Picasso biography Vols. I & II. Perhaps it is unfair to compare the two views of Picasso. Nevertheless I found the Gilot book lacking in any profound insight. She is philosophical about her reasons for taking up with Picasso and appears almost mercenary in her motives, i.e. the relationship will improve her understanding of Picasso and his art. She manages to maintain that philosophical if almost removed viewpoint throughout. If what is written (who knows what axes have to be ground) is true then she seems a great deal less unhinged than Dora Maar, Olga Kokhlova or even perhaps Marie-Therese Walter. At least that is the picture Gilot paints. The former two especially are depicted as haradans lurking in wait for Gilot to both physically and mentally assail her. It is sadly typical of Picasso to allow these nasty encounters to continue to his advantage. Given Gilot's disinterested depiction of events which both redound to her credit as well leave the reader agog at her own credulity of Picasso's motives and personality I found the book interesting as a look inside a fascinating era but nevertheless was left quite unmoved as to her own fate. I can only conclude this must have been her original intention as the book was co-written by her.

I am looking forward to Richardson's vols. III and IV of Picasso and am interested in his view of their (Gilot/ Picasso) relationship. Undeniably a completely absorbing character despite the ugliness.

A Life of Devastation
Picasso has always fascinated me. I've always been curious about knowing what and who was behind those piercing black eyes that could freeze you in your own tracks; that man who thought women came only in two forms: either goddesses or doormats. Gilot's book of milestones succeeded at imparting some of his secrets - how she met him, loved him, and eventually was consumed by his larger-than-life and boisterous temperament; how he treated "his" women, his children, and friends; how he thought of and expressed his take on life; how he hated the words "like" and "appreciate" and preferred to either love or hate; how his whole existence fed and was borne on his art. Picasso, the labyrinth, and as throroughly drawn by Gilot, was a man who flirted with life by his own very terms and a take-it-or-leave-it attitude that ridiculed the very essence of it. A far cry from mild and an artist who flew in the face of the common, he never hoped to do; he did. He never waited to be given; he took. He was the god of his own self, and by the same token acted as if he had been the god of all. Gilot knew how to play his game, at least sometimes, but could never bring him closer to "normalcy." His genius overwhelmed his surroundings just as much as it had overwhelmed Picasso himself.

The book is very well-written. Incidents and moments do not follow a chronological sequence; rather, they are told as she remembers them. She interjects her memories with her own impressions and epiphanies; how she felt at the time is juxtaposed with how she felt as she was writing the book, which was first published in 1964. Apollinaire, Gertrude Stein, Matisse, Braque, Cocteau, Max Jacob, Eluard, Miro, Modigliani, Goya, Giacometti, and many other lofty figures whose lives were intimately intertwined with Picasso's are narrated in an accentuated mood of writing. It's a very interesting book if one was interested in that Golden Age of aesthetic and thought schools like the Blue Period, Cubism, Socialist Realism, and how Picasso had lived through it all. It points out his most absorbing canvasses and expressively conveys how, when, and where each had been conceived and later fathered by him. I personally don't believe in formalism or the notion that art is self-contained or self-referential; there is a whole life out there, or rather "in" there, that crystallizes its point of departure thereby meditating its own maker.

I loved this book not only for its author's elegance and depth, but also because of the breadth of her enfolded experiences, her bare feelings, and the intricacy of that snow-in-summer intimacy she had with that ferocious and insatiable matador of a human nature called Picasso. A monster, yes. And a genius who believed in passion as the only rule worth living by, and for.

Interesting book, hard to put down once you get into it.
Not being very well educated in art, the book helped me better understand some of what Picasso was trying to portray in his artwork. It is an easy book to get through once you get into it, the way it is written it can be long and tedious at times but the information Francoise Gilot gives is quite sincere and in depth. The book will give you a better incite to Picasso's twisted and passionate life, leaving you with a newfound knowledge and idea about Picasso.

Great perspective, from a person who knew first hand.
The best book on Picasso I have read. Francoise Gilot, wife to Picasso and a painter, writes possibly with better insight than Picasso himself could, and certainly any other "outside of the circle" biographer could, about Picasso's manner of painting, his personality and lifestyle, his motivations and a good part of his life. Excellent, excellent book. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Picasso in sunlight
This book superbly portrays Picasso as a man: his joie de vivre his love of women, his love of life, his guttural grasping at the meaning of life, love and beauty in its modern, cruel guise. Throughout the author refers toto real people: people who exist - people like you, and people like me:people who go down to the mall, people who eat ham and cheese baguettes,people who delve into the deeper things.... the ntherworld of life: love:the internet: humour; bullfighting, his mother his love , his daughter. ... Read more

Book Description

From the bestselling author of Beethoven's Hair comes a stirring narrative account of the bombing of the town that inspired one of the world's most celebrated and controversial works of art, the painting Guernica's profound impact on the politics and culture of the twentieth century, and the artist whose immense passion and artistic vision are unequaled in modern history.

On April 26, 1937, in the late afternoon of a busy market day in the Basque town of Gernika in northern Spain, the German Luftwaffe began the relentless bombing and machine-gunning of businesses, homes and villagers to test a new type of warfare waged from the air at the request of General Francisco Franco and his rebel forces. Three-and-a-half hours later, the village lay in ruins, its population decimated. This act of terror and unspeakable cruelty the first intentional, large-scale attack against a nonmilitary target in modern warfare outraged the world, and compelled a Spanish painter to respond with artistic fury. Pablo Picasso, an expatriate living in Paris, reacted immediately to the devastation in his homeland by beginning work on the canvas that would become his testament against the horrors of war.

Guernica has become widely considered the greatest artwork of the twentieth century in the sixty-five years since its creation, and has been claimed as a powerful symbolic image first by the embattled government of Republican Spain and then, over time, by the international communist party, American artists opposing the war in Vietnam, international peace organizations, Basque separatists, survivors of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and people everywhere.

Weaving themes of conflict and redemption, doom and transcendence, and featuring some of the century's most memorable and infamous figures, including Adolf Hitler, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Orwell, Jackson Pollock, Lillian Hellman, and Picasso himself, Martin follows this renowned masterwork from its fevered creation through its journey across decades, from many countries of Europe to America and finally and triumphantly to Spain. Picasso's War is a book that vividly demonstrates how vital art is to human lives and how sometimes it even transfigures tragedy, a story that delivers an unforgettable portrait of an artistic genius whose visionary rendering of the terrible wounds of war still resonates profoundly today. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Great Book for a Light Read On Picasso
The book as a whole was rather well written, and, if someone asked me for a good nonfiction book about Picasso, there is a good chance that I would point them to this book. The book had good descriptions throughout, it was written for so that people who had very little understanding previously could understand what was going on, and the book was written so that it didn't have to be read all in one sitting. So, while I probably wouldn't pass it onto others, I feel that it was a good experience to read it.

Good discussion - Visuals lacking
Picasso's War untangles much of the criticism of the artist during WWII for remaining in France. It is an excellent discussion of Guernica--the paintings beginning as rough sketches to the final product. The tragedy at Gernica is discribed vividly, putting the reader at the scene. Martin's take on Picasso is balanced--his outstanding talent and chauvenism toward his many women are discussed. My criticism of the book lies with the total lack of illustrations. As an artist I wanted to see pictures of the initial sketches, the painting in process and a good reproduction of Guernica, not just what was on the cover. The lack of illustrations makes the book much less effective for a visual person, artist or art historian.

Great Read -- Great History?
Russell Martin has taken the history of the Spanish Civil War and a single work of art an woven them together into an entertaining and enlightening book. I am disturbed, however, by the author's Bibliographical Note, which begins "This narrative is intended for general readers rather than scholars, and for that reason I have chosen not to cite sources in the text or in accompanying notes. But I will be pleased to answer queries directed to me through the publisher about specific sources...." The author claims a great deal of detailed knowledge, from time to time stating with authority how Picasso felt in particular situations. It would be nice, even for a general reader, to know whether these conclusions were based on letters or interviews or the author's supposition...

Guernica-- et la Guerre
Brisk biography of a great apparition, Picasso's meditation on war, and the atrocity of the bombing of the Basques. Detached,almost remote from politics Picasso is suddenly drawn into a protest against the fascist tide in the period of the Spanish Civil War, the outcome the masterpiece one once saw many times at Moma--the author recounts the return of this orphaned msterpice to Spain after its long years of exile and rejection by Franco's spain. Well told, important story.

A Historic Painting's Biography
In a small village of Spain, it was market day on 26 April 1937, with farmers bringing in harvest. The village within the Basque region of northern Spain was without any serious strategic import, but it was less than twenty miles away from Bilbao, a Basque stronghold, and Francisco Franco wished to threaten the Basques. At the request of Franco's rebel army, Luftwaffe planes poured bombs, percussion and incendiary, onto the village for three hours, and strafed the people trying to flee. The event was to inspire possibly the most famous painting of the twentieth century, and the painting was to sear the events in Guernica into the world's memory. The story of the history that made the painting and the painting that made history is dramatically told in _Picasso's War: The Destruction of Guernica, and the Masterpiece that Changed the World_ (Dutton) by Russell Martin. It is a great story of art and history, and it is told here with earnest verve.

Picasso didn't like the idea of a commission for a big mural, and although he fully supported the Spanish Republican forces in their efforts against Franco's fascism, he was not interested in making what he knew would be a piece of propaganda. He had never visited the Basque country, but once he heard of the attack, he began sketches for the commission. It was not immediately accepted as a masterpiece, although the partisans of the Spanish Republican cause were, of course, enthusiastic. It wound up at the commencement of World War II in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it would be a showpiece for more than forty years. Picasso made clear that the Spanish Republican government had paid for the painting and it thus belonged to the people of a democratic Spain, but he stipulated that democracy and freedom had to be restored before it returned. After Franco's death, and after serious legal tangles, possibly because the museum wanted to hold on to the painting as long as possible, the painting was sent to the Prado museum in Madrid in 1981. The national newspaper had the headline THE WAR HAS ENDED.

That might have been so, but controversy over the painting and the locale it deserves has not ended. It was moved to another Madrid museum, probably its permanent home, but many Basques believe that it needs to be closer to the rebuilt Guernica village. Hope for such a move peaked when the Bilbao museum was built. The architect, Frank Gehry, even showed the Spanish king and queen the wall on which _Guernica_ should be installed. Having the painting return to Spain helped to heal the years of repression, and perhaps sending it to Bilbao would heal the wounds between Basques and Spaniards; it is not impossible that the famous painting still has work to do. But Martin reminds us that Picasso said, "Wars end, but hostilities endure forever." Martin was researching his fine book, and looking at the painting himself, when other museum visitors hinted that as an American he ought to get to a television. It was 11 September 2001, and the world has not fully learned _Guernica_'s lesson. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Pictures tell much less than a thousand words...
The price is great on this book but don't expect anything more than the title says. There are 61 black and white pictures of picasso lithographs with VERY LITTLE information on each piece. I thought that this book was going to concentrate on one specific run of lithographs but it is just a hodge podge or pics. ... Read more

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What's a genius anyway?
John Berger is a critic with a real sense of decency: never too high-falutin, smart and responsible. He asks us to see beautiful objects, not in their staid isolation in the museum setting, but in the context of social history. It is obvious that Picasso was a genius. He saw and drew things that evoke wonders and passions. But is that all?

The central essay here is "The Moment of Cubism." Berger paints a general portrait of a distinct era of possibility: artistic and social and political. The explosion of Cubism is but a moment in a larger moment of real revolution. Not just "ways of seeing" but ways of living, thinking, hoping. Berger reminds us that Picasso needed the times (Europe), he also, more specifically needed friends and support. After all, there were two who brought forth cubism; moreover, there were the likes of Cezanne.

Berger asks the question that is overlooked in the constant reverence of Picasso's potency (echoing Benjamin Buchloh on the "ciphers of regression"): was Picasso genius throughout his career or was that moment (historical and aesthetic) the real genius?

(For more on Berger, read his two inspired novels: "G." and "To the Wedding.") ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very abstract
This book contains many ink drawings by picasso. The drawings are not very detailed and very abstract. They mostly show a model standing in front of picasso while he is drawing. Very little detail is present. If you like picasso's abstract work and want to see more, this book is ok. Not great, but ok. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Inspiring for amateur artists
Throughout his career, Picasso used classic paintings as inspiration for his own work. Typically, the earlier paintings did not inspire just a single work, but a sequence of paintings, sometimes dozens of them.

This book follows the in-depth process behind the creation of some of these sequences, including those inspired by Manet's "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" and Velasquez's "Las Meninas". Many of the paintings in each sequence are illustrated, and the commentary, though somewhat academic in tone, is quite useful.

I am not an art historian, but I found this book inspiring, especially for amateur artists like me.

First, it shows that, for Picasso, art was a process, rather than a goal. As the sequences develop, we can see him continuously reinterpreting the original, changing directions, as a way of exploring the original and his reactions to it. Many of the steps are incomplete, or inadequate in some way. I personally found this reassuring! So often, we only see the major works, and they are treated as if they had been perfectly formed, rather than the conclusion of a series of experiments. (David Hockney has mentioned that owning Picasso's catalogue raisonné made him understand Picasso in a whole new way).

Second, the whole premise of the book is that is OK to be derivative (in the best sense). Our art culture places an extreme value on originality. The idea of copying great art, and being inspired by it to develop your own variations on a theme, is currently underappreciated, even though this technique has always been used by great artists. (In art, Van Gogh comes to mind. And in music, Bach, Mozart, and of course, all jazz musicians). This book shows that this approach can indeed be useful and productive, and if Picasso used it, maybe it can get some respect!

In other words, if you are an artist, feeling pressure to create perfect, original works, relax! Don't be afraid to experiment. ... Read more