Picasso was born a Spaniard and; so they say; began to draw before he could speak. In early childhood he could spend hours in happy concentration drawing spirals with a sense and meaning known only to himself. At other times; shunning childrenrsquo;s games; he traced his first pictures in the sand. This early self-expression held out promise of a rare gift. Maacute;laga must be mentioned; for it was there; on 25 October 1881; that Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born and it was there that he spent the first ten years of his life. Picassorsquo;s father was a painter and professor at the School of Fine Arts and Crafts. Picasso learnt from him the basics of formal academic art training. Then he studied at the Academy of Arts in Madrid but never finished his degree. Picasso; who was not yet eighteen; had reached the point of his greatest rebelliousness; he repudiated academiarsquo;s anemic aesthetics along with realismrsquo;s pedestrian prose and; quite naturally; joined those who called themselves modernists; the non-conformist artists and writers; those whom Sabarteacute;s called ldquo;the eacute;lite of Catalan thoughtrdquo; and who were grouped around the artistsrsquo; cafeacute; Els Quatre Gats. During 1899 and 1900 the only subjects Picasso deemed worthy of painting were those which reflected the ldquo;final truthrdquo;; the transience of human life and the inevitability of death. His early works; ranged under the name of ldquo;Blue Periodrdquo; (1901-1904); consist in blue-tinted paintings influenced by a trip through Spain and the death of his friend; Casagemas. Even though Picasso himself repeatedly insisted on the inner; subjective nature of the Blue Period; its genesis and; especially; the monochromatic blue were for many years explained as merely the results of various aesthetic influences. Between 1905 and 1907; Picasso entered a new phase; called ldquo;Rose Periodrdquo; characterised by a more cheerful style with orange and pink colours. In Gosol; in the summer of 1906 the nude female form assumed an extraordinary importance for Picasso; he equated a depersonalised; aboriginal; simple nakedness with the concept of ldquo;womanrdquo;. The importance that female nudes were to assume as subjects for Picasso in the next few months (in the winter and spring of 1907) came when he developed the composition of the large painting; Les Demoiselles drsquo;Avignon. Just as African art is usually considered the factor leading to the development of Picassorsquo;s classic aesthetics in 1907; the lessons of Ceacute;zanne are perceived as the cornerstone of this new progression. This relates; first of all; to a spatial conception of the canvas as a composed entity; subjected to a certain constructive system. Georges Braque; with whom Picasso became friends in the autumn of 1908 and together with whom he led Cubism during the six years of its apogee; was amazed by the similarity of Picassorsquo;s pictorial experiments to his own. He explained that: ldquo;Cubismrsquo;s main direction was the materialisation of space.rdquo; After his Cubist period; in the 1920s; Picasso returned to a more figurative style and got closer to the surrealist movement. He represented distorted and monstrous bodies but in a very personal style. After the bombing of Guernica during 1937; Picasso made one of his most famous works which starkly symbolises the horrors of that war and; indeed; all wars. In the 1960s; his art changed again and Picasso began looking at the art of great masters and based his paintings on ones by Velaacute;zquez; Poussin; Goya; Manet; Courbet and Delacroix. Picassorsquo;s final works were a mixture of style; becoming more colourful; expressive and optimistic. Picasso died in 1973; in his villa in Mougins. The Russian Symbolist Georgy Chulkov wrote: ldquo;Picassorsquo;s death is tragic. Yet how blind and naiuml;ve are those who believe in imitating Picasso and learning from him. Learning what? For these forms have no corresponding emotions outside of Hell. But to be in Hell means to anticipate death. The Cubists are hardly privy to such unlimited knowledgerdquo;.
#4536951 in eBooks 2014-02-28 2014-02-28File Name: B00IPMVZCW
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Not the typical 1960s fashion surveyBy MinababeBefore you get this; know what youre getting. On the surface it looks like a typical fashion survey that writes about all he fashion trends of the 1960s. Well; this book is anything but; its more a look into the historical; political and cultural reasons behind the Swinging London fashion boom; which saw an unprecedented explosion of styles that seemed to change from week to week. So; if youre the type of person who always looks at 1960s fashion in awe and wonders how and why it became one of the most creative; artistic and exciting periods in the 20th century; this is the book to get. But dont; like I said; look to it as a detailed historical survey detailing all the many styles that came out during this period.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Small History Of The Great 60s Fashions That Came Out Of Great BritainBy Tante MarenSwinging Britain Fashion In the 1960s by Mark Armstrong is a little book- almost 6 by 6 inches- which for its small size gives the reader a nice little history of the great mod era from 60s London. I very often forget that after WWII; the United States rebounded quickly; having bombings at Pearl Harbor; but war torn Great Britain and Europe had a much longer recovery period. While the US had a quicker turnaround in its economy in the 50s; this economic turnaround happened later in the 60s for Great Britain.The 50s teenagers had a good economy growing here in the US which allowed for clothes; records; soda shops and other teenage necessities to cater to their needs; but their fashions were a bit like their parents in basic style. When the British economy picked up; the baby boomers had money to spend; and Britain cashed in on them with their own fashion designers; hair salons and great British music with the forever changing 60s styles. When the British Invasion came here to the US in the mid 60s; Britain ruled again if only in a fashion sense.Gone were the similar looks to our parents clothing; now all the baby boomers here and in Europe embraced a look all their own- the new Mod Look. Totally modern in every way and forever changing through the 60s- from the put together polished coordinated wardrobe to the thrown together hippy casual look- teenagers had their own style and the money to own it. This book touches on the Boutiques; Fashions; Fashion Models; Designers; Photographers and Musicians that came out of Great Britain.There are a few nice small photos of Jean Shrimpton; Twiggy; David Bailey; Mary Quant; the mobile bus boutique Birds Paradise; Dusty Springfield; The Beatles; The Who; Apple Boutique; The Stones; The Kinks; Biba; Carnaby Street; The Cream; Hendrix; Diana Rigg and more. If you are looking for a book on 60s mod fashions with photos of the clothing; this is not it. If you want to read a bit about how the Swinging 60s fashions began in Great Britain and evolved; this is a great little short read with a few nice photos. Overall; its a 4 STAR small history of the great 60s fashions that came out of Great Britain.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerGreat small; inexpensive photo book of 60s fashion.
