Furious, full of life, open to everything new, Pablo Picasso produced a magical effect on his contemporaries – no less than his paintings produce on us today. “He looked at the world point-blank, with wide-open eyes, a look full of curiosity and surprise,” wrote the famous French photographer Brassai about him, who communicated with Picasso for decades and recorded their dialogues.
Here are some observations of the great artist about art and not only.
1. “Why does an artist stubbornly try to convey what can be easily captured with a lens? Pure madness, right? Photography appeared at the appointed hour to free the art of painting from literature, from the need for context, and even from plot … And shouldn’t artists now take advantage of the freedom given to them to do something else?
2. “To understand what you want to draw, you need to start … If a man appears under the pen, then there will be a man … If a woman appears, then a woman … There is a Spanish saying: “If a beard appears, then this is a man; if there is no beard, then a woman … “There is another option:” If there is a beard – this is St. Joseph, if there is no beard – this is the Virgin Mary. Amazing, right? It always comes to my mind when I find myself in front of a blank sheet of paper … What I catch in the process of work – even apart from my desire – is more important for me than my own ideas … “
The photograph “Picasso, hands-bread” (1952) can be seen at the exhibition of Robert Doisneau “Beauty of everyday life”, which runs as part of the IX Moscow International Biennale “Fashion and Style in Photography – 2015” until May 10, 2015, Multimedia Art Museum of the Moscow House photos (MAMM), see the website for more details
3. “Have you noticed that animals are very sensitive to the act of human love? He attracts them, excites them, warms their blood… This is especially true for dogs and cats… I knew a woman who had two huge St. Bernards, males… And now a man appeared in her life… She was very much in love… For the first time, when they got into bed, both St. Bernards appeared in the bedroom, stood on their hind legs at the foot of the bed and stood like that, huge, threatening … The sight was so wild that her lover jumped off the bed and hurriedly retreated … “
4. “I love bats! And women are afraid of them … They think that a mouse can grab their hair … But this, perhaps, is the most beautiful animal in the world, the most elegant … You happened to see their small, brilliant, sparkling eyes, their skin, silky, like velvet? And look at these thin, so fragile bones … “
5. “I have a real passion for bones … I have a lot of them in Bouagelou: skeletons of birds, heads of dogs, rams … There is even a rhinoceros skull … Perhaps you saw them there, in the barn? Have you noticed that the bones are always molded, as it were, but not carved: it seems that they were first poured into a clay mold, and then taken out of there? Whatever bone you examine, you will always find fingerprints… Sometimes very large fingers, sometimes midget ones, like those that sculpted the tiny and fragile bones of this mouse… Always, on any bone. I see the traces of the creator’s fingers, who had fun sculpting it … Did you notice that the bones, with their concave and convex shapes, are perfectly inserted one into the other? What kind of art is needed to “fit” the bones of the spine to each other in this way?
Read more:
- Why does not everyone understand Malevich and Picasso?
6. “To have a calling, you need courage, and to meet him – too … The “second craft” is a trap, a false goal! I also often sat penniless, but at the same time I always resisted the temptation to earn something other than my painting … But I could stamp cartoons for satirical magazines, as Juan Gris, van Dongen or Villon did … The Oiler magazine offered me 800 francs for a drawing, but I preferred to make a living by painting … At first I sold paintings cheaply, but still I sold … My drawings, canvases left … This is the most important thing … “
7. “I always strive for similarity… The artist must observe nature, but never confuse it with painting. It can be translated into painting only with the help of symbols. But symbols are not invented. We must strive with all our might for similarity in order to obtain a symbol … Art is a language of signs. When I say the word “man”, I call to mind the image of a man; the word became his sign. The sign does not represent him in the way that a photograph could. Two holes is a sign of a face, enough to call it into consciousness without imagining it … But doesn’t it seem strange to you that this can be done in such a simple way? Two holes – this is very abstract, if we take into account how complex a person is … And the most abstract, perhaps, is the highest degree of reality … “
Brassai “Conversations with Picasso” (Ad Marginem Press, 2015).
The picture “Picasso, hands-bread” is a photo joke that was invented by Robert Doisneau: “… When I arrived in Vallauris, Picasso and his wife were having dinner. We talked, but I did not take a single picture … Returning to the city, I went to the baker who supplied the artist with buns. Some of them were unusual, and I asked what they were called, he answered – “Picasso’s hands.” When people look at it, they notice only four “fingers”. Of course it’s Picasso! So I bought buns, put them on the table in front of Pablo and took a photo. He liked this. He generally liked jokes. All the two days that we spent together, we only did what was joking. Picasso was the best model I had. Everyone who approached him was showered with some kind of golden dust.
From the book by Robert Doisneau “Portraits of the Artists” (“Portraits of the Artists”, Flammarion, 2008).