ART

For the record, regarding Picasso quote

by Ari Siletz on Wed May 18, 2011 06:31 PM PDT

Asked by friends to dig deeper into the Picasso quote included  in my comment below,  I found that many reputable sources repeat it, but
things aren't as simple as that. The quote first appeared
in Il Libro Nero by Giovani Papini Italian art critic (1951).  Papini (a fascist) is accused of faking the interview. Here's an account
of his possible motivation.  No record of Picasso denying the 1951
interview until 1955  when it was used against him by
the Franco government.  A clue as to why Picasso may have taken so long to
deny the interview by a well known and politically connected critic
comes from this website:
"Picasso
did not seem to care too much what the press wrote
about him as long as they wrote about him at all.
Whether by intuition or carefully planned, he was
a marketing genius, spinning his own legend at lifetime....He was charming and witty and he liked to
confuse, to provoke and to have
his fun with the public.
" 

So maybe the interview was
real and Picasso was just kidding! On the other hand, why would, Picasso, a communist
give ammunition to a well known right wing critic in such politically charged
times?
Because Picasso was a communist, the cold war era NATO
intelligence apparently helped give credibility to the interview. Yet
those who would discredit the interview also have strong motivations--of
the monetary type. So the quote should be used with strong caveats regarding authenticity.

Ari, that was an insightful quote

by oktaby on Fri May 07, 2010 09:49 PM PDT

Somehow that quote reminds of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Some 'in the know' saw Picasso as a farce. Some, say the same about Gaudi's architecture. I find the Spanish modernismo fascinating. Superficial and playful, yet insightful of the human paradox.

OKtaby

Oktaby, Picasso sympathizes with Khavarani:

by Ari Siletz on Fri May 07, 2010 01:03 PM PDT

"From the moment that art ceases to be food that feeds the best minds, the artist can use his talents to perform all the tricks of the intellectual charlatan. Most people can today no longer expect to receive consolation and exaltation from art. The 'refined,' the rich, the professional 'do-nothings', the distillers of quintessence desire only the peculiar, the sensational, the eccentric, the scandalous in today's art. I myself, since the advent of Cubism, have fed these fellows what they wanted and satisfied these critics with all the ridiculous ideas that have passed through my mind. The less they understood them, the more they admired me. Through amusing myself with all these absurd farces, I became celebrated, and very rapidly. For a painter, celebrity means sales and consequent affluence. Today, as you know, I am celebrated, I am rich. But when I am alone, I do not have the effrontery to consider myself an artist at all, not in the grand old meaning of the word: Giotto, Titian, Rembrandt, Goya were great painters. I am only a public clown - a mountebank. I have understood my time and have exploited the imbecility, the vanity, the greed of my contemporaries. It is a bitter confession, this confession of mine, more painful than it may seem. But at least and at last it does have the merit of being honest." (Pablo Picasso, 1952). Note: Picasso painted La Guernica (#26, and his greatest work in my mind)in 1937. When asked to explain its symbolism, he said,  "It isn't up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them."
..............................................

Yolanda: I seem to like images of vast spaces too. Spent the most time exploring those paintings. As for the others,  you should see them in their original colors. The RGB color of computer screens can't duplicate the amazing subtleties of Khavarani's palette.  

There are shades of several masters here

by oktaby on Fri May 07, 2010 11:17 AM PDT

Not clear to me if it is intentional. Picasso was nicely blended and explained in context. I saw shades of Dali, Rembrandt and even Van Gogh. #5 is uniquely vivid

Nice post 

OKtaby

.....

by yolanda on Fri May 07, 2010 11:01 AM PDT

Thank you for posting the artwork by a Rumi inspired artist! My favorites are from #15 all the way to the end!

Thanks,