Press and Editorial
Pablo Picasso
12 October 2011Bill Gregory
» Click here to download PDF
» View Pablo Picasso exhibition
“A virtuoso in every technical process, he elicits from his material the very subtlest effects it is capable of yielding. It is therefore hardly surprising that he puts his trust in unceasing experiment and that five, ten or even thirty states are sometimes necessary before a masterpiece emerges from this severest of self-critics”. Georges Bloch, editor catalogue raisonne of Picasso Graphic work
At the time of his death in 1972, Pablo Picasso had already been the most famous artist in the world for half a century. But artists who are celebrated in their day are sometimes treated cruelly by history. Reputations can quickly fade. However, as time goes by, Picasso’s stature only continues to grow. This exhibition will provide a fascinating additional context for the massive exhibition running concurrently at the Art Gallery NSW. There are over three million dollars worth of work in the show ranging from under $10,000 to $500,000.
Picasso was involved in printmaking for virtually his entire career. The Bloch catalogue lists over eighteen hundred works. To follow this journey to any degree, one begins to understand Picasso’s method – a constant quest for new forms of expression. To consider Picasso’s graphics is an ideal way to study the evolution of this great master’s oeuvre. He was fascinated with various print media and acutely aware that these allowed him to come up with styles and effects that could not be obtained through painting and drawing. Etching, aquatint and lithography is an entirely different vocabulary. The processes themselves are complex and images may change dramatically through the use of the inks, the pressures of the implements creating the line and the type of paper used as a support. In addition, all printmaking is to some degree collaboration between the artist and the printer – much depends on the ability of the artist to translate the vision to the master printer. Picasso astonished the foremost master printers again and again. Not only was he able to master the difficulties of new techniques and mediums with ease, he went on to obtain results that were previously thought to be impossible.
It was Picasso’s ability constantly to find ways to re-invent himself that is the hallmark of his work. Acutely aware of art history, he did not hesitate to take on the past, assimilate it and make it his own. He also wanted to measure himself against the great art of the past and situate himself in the continuum of the entire human creative endeavor. To this end his work addressed everything from Roman art, neo-classicism, and the old masters such as El Greco and Poussin through to Delacroix, Manet, Van Gogh and Cézanne.
If you want to experience a real window into the soul of the artist, there is no better medium in my view than that of printmaking and drawing. It can be spontaneous and carefully crafted. It can be mysterious and retain intellectual clarity. It can highlight ideas and veil them at the same time. No other finished medium is so personal and yet so universal – the works are a culture of opposites and conundrums.
The printed work of Picasso demonstrates a clearly defined succession of periods in which a certain technique usually predominates. While not comprehensive, we have examples in this exhibition of most periods to give the viewer an idea of his progression. The main periods represented here are as follows; The Suite de Saltimbanques 1904-1906; Suite Vollard in the early thirties, a suite from Le Carmen des Carmen from 1949; the late, great prints from the 1960’s including examples from the 347 and the 156 series – some erotic. It is an extraordinary collection of works. Le Repas Frugal is included which is the first etching in the catalogue raisonne by Bloch. In addition, there are several rare drawings and a monotype that give us an idea of how printmaking interacts with drawing in the graphic medium.
» Click here to download PDF
» View Pablo Picasso exhibition
“A virtuoso in every technical process, he elicits from his material the very subtlest effects it is capable of yielding. It is therefore hardly surprising that he puts his trust in unceasing experiment and that five, ten or even thirty states are sometimes necessary before a masterpiece emerges from this severest of self-critics”. Georges Bloch, editor catalogue raisonne of Picasso Graphic work
At the time of his death in 1972, Pablo Picasso had already been the most famous artist in the world for half a century. But artists who are celebrated in their day are sometimes treated cruelly by history. Reputations can quickly fade. However, as time goes by, Picasso’s stature only continues to grow. This exhibition will provide a fascinating additional context for the massive exhibition running concurrently at the Art Gallery NSW. There are over three million dollars worth of work in the show ranging from under $10,000 to $500,000.
Picasso was involved in printmaking for virtually his entire career. The Bloch catalogue lists over eighteen hundred works. To follow this journey to any degree, one begins to understand Picasso’s method – a constant quest for new forms of expression. To consider Picasso’s graphics is an ideal way to study the evolution of this great master’s oeuvre. He was fascinated with various print media and acutely aware that these allowed him to come up with styles and effects that could not be obtained through painting and drawing. Etching, aquatint and lithography is an entirely different vocabulary. The processes themselves are complex and images may change dramatically through the use of the inks, the pressures of the implements creating the line and the type of paper used as a support. In addition, all printmaking is to some degree collaboration between the artist and the printer – much depends on the ability of the artist to translate the vision to the master printer. Picasso astonished the foremost master printers again and again. Not only was he able to master the difficulties of new techniques and mediums with ease, he went on to obtain results that were previously thought to be impossible.
It was Picasso’s ability constantly to find ways to re-invent himself that is the hallmark of his work. Acutely aware of art history, he did not hesitate to take on the past, assimilate it and make it his own. He also wanted to measure himself against the great art of the past and situate himself in the continuum of the entire human creative endeavor. To this end his work addressed everything from Roman art, neo-classicism, and the old masters such as El Greco and Poussin through to Delacroix, Manet, Van Gogh and Cézanne.
If you want to experience a real window into the soul of the artist, there is no better medium in my view than that of printmaking and drawing. It can be spontaneous and carefully crafted. It can be mysterious and retain intellectual clarity. It can highlight ideas and veil them at the same time. No other finished medium is so personal and yet so universal – the works are a culture of opposites and conundrums.
The printed work of Picasso demonstrates a clearly defined succession of periods in which a certain technique usually predominates. While not comprehensive, we have examples in this exhibition of most periods to give the viewer an idea of his progression. The main periods represented here are as follows; The Suite de Saltimbanques 1904-1906; Suite Vollard in the early thirties, a suite from Le Carmen des Carmen from 1949; the late, great prints from the 1960’s including examples from the 347 and the 156 series – some erotic. It is an extraordinary collection of works. Le Repas Frugal is included which is the first etching in the catalogue raisonne by Bloch. In addition, there are several rare drawings and a monotype that give us an idea of how printmaking interacts with drawing in the graphic medium.