life & art of picasso, syllabus, etc.

Purpose: Survey entire career and place into context of historical events and artistic movements.

Goal: be able to identify "periods" in art and link to events and individuals.

Schedule:

June 15 Early Years to Blue Period Gedo ch. 1 &2; Anthology pp. 11-45

June 17 Blue Period to Rose Period Gedo ch. 3; Anthology pp. 46-75

June 19 Cubism I Gedo ch. 4; Anthology pp. 76-101

June 22 Cubism II Gedo ch. 5; Anthology pp. 102-136

June 24 WWI; the Ballet Gedo ch. 6; Anthology pp. 137-177 *midterm assigned* due next class period

June 26 Surrealism Gedo ch. 7; Anthology pp. 178-214 *midterms collected* will be returned July 6

June 29 Guernica & WWII Gedo ch. 8; Anthology pp. 215-245 (Guest Lecturer--will present same material so take good notes!)

July 1 Movie: Surviving Picasso -- Take Notes!!!

July 3 No Class -- school holiday

July 6 Themes of the 1940s and 1950s Gedo ch. 9; Anthology pp. 247-285

July 8 Late Picasso; the revising of past masters Gedo ch. 11 & ch. 12 *journals/projects collected*

July 11 Final Exam -- will cover entire course. Be able to identify unknowns as coming from a specific period. Be able to identify significance of particular themes.

Explanation of Project:

Read the Anthology of Picasso reminiscences/criticism etc. Take notes or keep a journal on these readings. Your assignment is to determine how these types of documents helped Picasso in his career, through either a journal, a circa 5 page typewritten paper using your notes OR through a combination creative project & 2 1/2 to 3 page paper describing what you did, why you did it, and source materials from the Anthology that supported project.

Sample Test Essays

• use these as examples of the level of completeness and accuracy that is necessary for an "A" in a class of this type involving compare/contrast essays and longer essay questions ---
• note: you will be asked on the final exam to identify unknown works as coming from specific periods.
• You will also need to be able to identify the titles and approximate dates of KEY works, which will be indicated in the course of class lectures.

Midterm Examination Art of Picasso University of Minnesota, Winter 1989, 3000 - level class: undergraduate art history majors and non-majors. This test was written by an undergraduate who had never had an art history class before. The score earned was 96. The test has been reproduced here as it was originally written (i.e. the spelling, sentence configuration etc. has not been altered from the original).

Test Breakdown: 3 comparisons, 15 minutes each then a longer essay on one single slide... 30 minutes. Point totals: 4 pts i.d. 16 points essay) Long Essay: 38 points plus 2 points for the i.d. of the single slide.

Comparison #1 Picasso, Portrait of Gertrude Stein, started 1905 completed 1906 vs. Picasso, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, 1906-1907. (received full points possible)

These two paintings are similar because they each show the primitivising of Picasso's work due to the influence of Iberian sculpture imposed on him during his trip to Gosol. In the portrait of Gertrude Stein, Picasso had been obsessed with Gertrude's appearance as she was very heavy set. He asked her to sit for him (which was an unusual request during this part of his career). After 80 sittings Picasso set the painting aside after scratching out Gertrude's features. He finished the painting after returning from Gosol and replaced Gertrude's face (without returning to the model) with a mask of interlocking planes. The development of this mask started earlier (in 1901) with the portrait of Coquoit and was further developed under Spanish Iberian influence while in Gosol (shown in landscapes and natives from that area). Les Demoiselles d'Avignon started out as a fairly realistic picture but Picasso reworked this picture several times. He first imposed Iberian-type masks for faces (like the one used in G. Stein's portrait) but tired of this when something new came of the art scene ......... African Art. The picture originally had 2 sailors in it (the picture is meant to represent a brothel) in studies for the painting and these men have been interpreted as possibly being self-portraits of Picasso. They were eventually eliminated in the final picture and the nude on the left assumed the task of pulling back the drape to reveal the women. The two figures on the right show the African influence with striations. He also becomes proto-cubist here by showing the woman on the lower right with a frontal and profile facial view simultaneously. This painting was considered an exorcism for Picasso and it relates to how he felt some women terrorized him and some calmed him. The mask-faces in Les Demoiselles are brutally painted as if to exorcise demons. In both paintings the masks are a revelation of the personality of the women. It is an attempt at a psychoanalytical portrait -- but in the portrait of Gertrude Stein this was an earlier use of a woman he truly respected (for she was a great supporter of Picasso's) -- while in Les Demoiselles it is a further extension of this mask for face idea that extends into a sexual arena that is meant to be truly confrontational and deal with his problems with women. He kept the Demoiselles because it was too early for some people to handle. The Portrait of Gertrude was given to her and remained in her collection until she donated it to a museum. So in conclusion, the Demoiselles is an extension and further elaboration of principles introduced in Gertrude Stein's portrait -- namely the interlocking planes and mask-like features.

Comparison #2 Picasso, Science and Charity, 1897 vs. Picasso, The Tragedy, 1903.

Both of these paintings relate an autobiographical element that was repeatedly seen in Picasso's paintings. In Science and Charity, a narrative is implied on a common theme for that time period (mainly the mother is dying and her child may end up being a ward of the state thus the Sister of Charity is brought in to explain what might happen to the child.) An autobiographical note is rought in by the use of Picasso's father as the model for the doctor feeling for the woman's pulse. The painting was painted earlier in Picasso's career than the Tragedy -- it showed a common theme present in Barcelona at the time but also showed influence coming from France. (Here the autobiographical element is communicated directly with the use of a family member). In the Tragedy Picasso's father may have been used as an idea for the model here also -- but in general this painting has been interpreted on the whole to be full of autobiographical meaning and emotion. A family is represented in a very bare setting on the seashore. The two parental figures are not communicating with each other (the woman is engulfed in a shawl, the man has his arms clasped to his chest). Only the boy reaches out to pat his fathers leg consolingly. This painting was painted when Picasso was moving about alot. It is one of the Blue period paintings and reflects the depth of trouble Picasso was going through trying to find a calm place to stay. This pull was to Paris but this reminded him of Cassagemus (who was part of the reason for the Blue period paintings) and this depressed him. He created more than 50 major works during this period of intense struggle. The family has been interpreted as Picasso's own family and one figure is missing -- that of his younger sister Conchita. She died either right before or right after a trip the family took. (Picasso incorrectly remembered the date of her death). Picasso's father was said to have never recovered and this painting shows that the whole family was strained due to this TRAGEDY. Unlike Science and Charity, this painting is in Picasso's own style in the blue period. Science and Charity was of traditional idea and was painted while he still attended art school. Both paintings have autobiographical elements but in Tragedy the element is the whole painting and idea behind it. In Science and Charity it is just the presence of his father (not the emotion behind it). [This essay earned 14 out of 16 possible points. The student did not discuss the fact that Picasso's father was an artist and his style was a direct influence on Science and Charity]

Comparison #3 Picasso, Still Life with Chair Caning 1912. Picasso, Guitar 1912.

Both of these works deal with the idea of construction in Picasso's works during this period. The still life with chair caning was kept by the artist and this can be interpreted as showing that it was important to him. It was because it was something totally new... the technique of collage. It mixes charcoal, paint, letters and a piece of wallpaper printed to look like the caning on a chair. This was the first use of added or found objects in Picasso's paintings. The work is framed by a piece of real rope. This work looked ahead to the synthetic cubism that was to come (with Guitar). Picasso eventually further worked on the idea to trick the viewer in compositions such as this -- so the viewer would not be sure of what was real and what was not. He did this by painting and drawing over added elements so it was difficult to distinguish where they began and where they ended. This is a construction/collage painting combination -- he tries to make the two exist in one single work. The sheetmetal and wire construction of Guitar was meant to be a cubist sculpture -- a further enhancement of objects broken down into geometric planes. It is also somewhat decorative (it could be hung on a wall) but it is done in one color tone so it is not truly decorative in the true sense of "decorative cubism." Both of these works were constructed at a time when Picasso was fairly happy with his life -- he had met his great love Eva and he had staunch supporters like Apollinaire and Gertrude Stein. He often turned to sculpture in times of severe stress or pressure -- but this time he turned to a painting/sculpture combined that showed his sense of humor and individual personality as an artist. They both show a great amount of creativity and ingenuity. The Guitar was a forerunner to many constructions (in metal and much later in ceramics) that he would do much later in life. In fact, he did these kinds of constructions well into his 80s. So, the Still Life with Chair Caning was a starting point of painting and sculpture (construction) mixed -- and the Guitar was a further translation of this into a full sculpture in metal. One is after all, technically a painting and the other is technically a sculpture. [This essay earned 15 out of a possible 16 points; the student did not specifically discuss the blurring of boundaries between the artistic media of painting and sculpture]

ESSAY on Single Slide (30 minutes) Picasso, La Vie, 1903.

La Vie is the masterpiece of the blue period of Picasso's work. It relates to his relationship with Cassagemus (who committed suicide over the loss of the love of a girl -- Germaine) as well as relating to his work as an artist (his drives and creativity) and choices that are made along the way. The painting deals with Picasso's relationship with himself, his relationship with others and also shows the beginning of a bold new use of sexuality in painting that he had not used before and was controversial at the time. La Vie is a painting that can be interpreted in many ways, on many levels. On one level this painting relates to Picasso's and Cassegamus's need to be creators. Cassegamus gave himself more fully to love, and Picasso gave himself over more fully to art. The figure at the left is Cassegamus and against him clings a sensual nude who is in the likeness of Germaine. Cassegamus is making direct eye contact with the older "mother" figure who is carrying a very small child. It is known that Cassagamus had a relationship with a prostitute that resulted in a child. He makes direct eye contact and his gesture could be concern or it could be a warning to "keep your distance." Another interpretation stems from the possibility that Cassegamus was in fact impotent, and that that was the reason why the affair with Germain didn't work out and ultimately the reason he killed himself. (In that case the gesture could indicate acknowledgment of what he could not have with Germaine i.e. a child) The paintings (semi unfinished) in the middle of La Vie are populated with figural types from Picasso's other Blue period paintings. The upper one shows two nudes clinging in comfort (or possibly passion). The lower shows a single sorrowful nude (probably female but this is not overtly referred to) that is curled up in a fetal position. These paintings have caused La Vie to be interpreted on many occasions as a "cycle of life" painting representing birth, life and love, loss of life and love, aloneness and death (because Cassagemus was dead). This interpretation however is considered quite shallow because it doesn't pull in the autobiographical elements that scholars know to be evident in Picasso's works. Another reason for the paintings in the center that has been suggested as the proof that art is the center of Picasso's world -- it was the decision he made when Cassagemus chose love. The similarity of the figures on the two canvases to the emaciated, sorrowful blue-period types would bear this hypothesis out. The painting La Vie is missing elements that previous sketches for the painting (and also an x-ray of the actual painting) have revealed that add further ambiguity and possible further interpretation to the work (it should be noted, however, that all of Picasso's symbolism has not been fully deciphered -- so these are hypotheses based on what is pretty well accepted by the art community at this time.) These ambiguous features are 1) The fact that the figure on the left had been a self-portrait of Picasso and 2) that in several studies for this painting the nude had been pregnant. These features point to the painting relating more to Picasso's own situation and his (probable) ambiguous feelings about his own sexual attitudes and practices. The woman with child could then be Picasso's own mother (who it is believed had quite an influence on Picasso for he turned away from her and to his father at an early age). The pregnant nude in the studies could relate then to an unwanted or as yet unrevealed pregnancy, or as a reference to the child Cassagemas had (his relationship with his mother wasn't great either -- and the women could be Cassagemus's mother]. But, at face value, with all the questions that the studies and x-rays bring up, the fact remains that the way the painting La Vie is is the way Picasso finished it so it is the way he wanted it. The studies merely reveal the thought processes behind the painting and aid to unravel symbolism on this multi-level autobiographical painting. La Vie is a complicated painting, one that needs interpretation and one that on several levels relates to Picasso's relationship with himself and others (Cassagemus, his mother) and his need to be a creator, (as well as Cassagemus's need to be a creator). The competition between Cassagemus and Picasso and the choices each made in their lifetime. Special note: Cassagemus was one of Picasso's Spanish painter friends and was probably Picasso's best friend. The loss of Cassagemus by his suicide deeply affected Picasso's mood for years. [this essay earned 37 out of a possible 38 points; the student did not cite the course textbook for items included in the essay that were discussed there but were not covered in class]