Essay Sample on Picasso: An Artist with Emotion

Introduction

As one of the most influential 20th-century modern artists, Pablo Picasso is recognized as a master of his day. He utilized his mind, along with his vision to create art pieces that were full of meaning. Picasso's audience during the time he was alive had trouble understanding the exact essence of his work. Later it was assumed that Picasso was trying to illustrate the truth rather than reality. Among his works was La Vie (1903) and Sylvette (1954), which reflect more on his emotions in life.

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Biography

Picasso was an artist and a poet born in Malaga in Andalusia, Spain. According to Witham (12), he started learning about art at an early age. He was the only son in the family and the sole heir to the extended family. His father, Jose Rui Blasco, was a painter. He adopted his mother's name, hence the word Pablo Picasso and not Pablo Blasco. His mother's name was Maria Picasso Lopez. Picasso's early life was full of fun, traveling, and art. He would attend school in the company of his caged bird (Charles 10). His family struggled financially, forcing them to move to different locations in search of a better living. From Malaga, Rui Blasco moved his family to La Corunaching job at a secondary school (Charles 10). It was not long before the family moved to Barcelona where his father secured a better paying job. Throughout the period, young Picasso loved art, and his father encouraged him to embrace the talent after noticing his prowess. Having enrolled in a school at the age of seven, Picasso hated a controlled environment, starting with the school. He became rebellious, especially after his sister's death. Picasso converted from a Catholic to an atheist.

The Picasso's family moved to Barcelona, a situation that forced him to join a new learning institution. He enrolled in a school of art and made friends with older schoolmates from wealthier families. He was undoubtedly talented with a massive array of skills in arts. He developed an interest in a line of art that embraced freedom and truth. He considered himself a better artist than his father and refused to seek formal employment (Witham 13). Even after moving to France, he would finance his livelihood through support from his friends from well-off families. However, after a while, Picasso became a bit promiscuous and established relationships with several women (Witham 18). His lavish lifestyle was trying to maintain until when he started to commercialize his art. With the help of his father, Picasso managed to start a studio and organize deals with Parisian dealers. He would go to Paris, to educate himself concerning the works of Edouard Manet, Gustave Courbet, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, who were impressed by the fragmentary works. His talent was quickly recognized, and he was able to surpass his father's abilities. His love for the "wrong way" pushed him further from his father who held different beliefs.

As an artist and a poet, Picasso developed some styles in his works. In art, he dealt with ceramics, etchings, lithographs, and linocuts (Matisse n.p). He derived his inspiration from many factors including the death of a friend and his early life in Spain. His artworks include Science and Charity (1897), an image of an ailing woman in bed (Witham 13). His life was defined by three significant periods, where he derived inspiration from specific situations and people. In the blue period, color and green-blue were predominantly present in his works. During this time, he acquired inspiration from his friend Carlos Casagemas' death (Matisse n.p). His art subjects also reflected sorrow, hence the reason for austere color. Subjects like beggars and prostitutes dominated the period. The second phase was the rose period. It marked his move to France and his relationship with a mistress, Fernande Olivier. During this time, he used shades of pink in his work, an aspect that marked the end of the depression period. The Cubism era followed the rose period. It marked an epoch of creativity through a combination of geometric art, figures, objects, and colors but in a disorganized pattern (McCully n.p). The artist would later introduce college and humans in the cubist forms. Picasso ended his art career with a period of reflection of restoration.

Pieces of Picasso's Art

La Vie (1903)

La Vie is not only one of Picasso's most magnificent paintings but also the most mysterious. The picture bears the title "The Life," thus bringing forth aspects of life and death. Picasso also painted the La Vie two years after the demise of his friend (Lucas and Ladislas 371). La Vie is one of Picasso's paintings during the blue period. The portrait was a memorial tribute to his close friend, who was a fellow art student. It presumably represents the miserable life of the Casagemas, the friend who committed suicide. The gloomy and depressed atmosphere fully reflected Picasso's preoccupation with life and death. This was a time when Picasso was in a deep state of depression and had no financial success. According to Witham (20), Picasso painted La Vie over Last Moments, an older painting. Thus, the art was a continuation of the life of sorrow that his friend lived. He tried to eliminate the memories of Casagemas with the new picture, but the encounters were still fresh in his mind. His friend's poverty and misery are engraved in his life.

The imagery in the painting creates a vivid image of Casagemas' life through art. Picasso ensured that the images flow in chronological order from the far back to the forward. La Vie was painted in Barcelona in the year 1903 during May. Standing 6.45ft by 4.25 ft tall and made out of oil on canvas. There is a picture of two men holding each other, and both seem naked (Matisse n.p). Closer to the front, a beggar sits miserably, which indicates the life of poverty and dependence. At the front, the piece portrays a couple that is barely clothed, acknowledging or confronting a mother holding a child in her arms. The man is pointing his finger and looking at the woman holding the baby. It feels as if he is acknowledging her presence and feels love for her. The woman hugging the man is completely naked and is looking at the baby as if she wants one of her own.

There is a cube that is behind the figures that have a naked man and woman holding each other and at the bottom a man resting his head on his knees by himself. The colors are cool with primary shades of blue for most of the objects in the piece. Interestingly, the couple that is in the cube is a shade of tan and is the only color other than white present (Lucas and Ladislas 371). This is portraying a light or love that is different from the rest of the painting. The figures are proportionate to that of humans during the period of the painting's production. A very solemn tone is felt when looking at the expressions of the faces, and it is almost as if everyone wishes they were somewhere else by the stares off in the distance.

Sylvette (1954)

It took seven years for Picasso to complete the Sylvette in Rotterdam. The painting represents Lydia Sylvette, a French woman who worked in a pottery studio. Picasso was promiscuous and could never form a lasting relationship. His previous relationship ended in total failure. With the lack of success of a love story with Sylvette, Picasso found a new life. The beginning of a new period marked the end to the depression. According to Pablo Picasso (n.p), Lydia Sylvette or Corbett inspired Picasso to create an array of 40 works in 1954 as his muse. The painting commands some curiosity to any onlooker, thus creating constant questions. The art portrays an image of a woman with the ponytail and with all of her clothes on. It is incredible how Picasso displays the pieces of clothing and the blue color on her face and some part of her dress. The image invokes mystery. There seem to be no easy answers with the woman on the painting. The art is unique and depicts a character with a different set of rules and morals. According to Pablo Picasso (n.p), the woman in the painting was never proud of her body. Though others applauded her beauty, she never embraced it.

However, Picasso treated this muse differently. There is no depiction of sexuality in the image; perhaps to indicate some respect. Pablo Picasso (n.p.) opines that Picasso failed in seducing Sylvette. It also illustrates a certain level of weirdness that is peculiar but at the same time exciting. Besides the cute ponytail, the face is disorganized and has several regular geometrical figures. Picasso uses cubism to present the beauty in the woman body. Cubist depictions entailed swollen eyes, elongated neck, contoured cheeks and a high ponytail (Pablo Picasso n.p). The woman's hair is a yellowish white and exudes warmth, compared to rest of the colors in the picture. She wears a hooded coat with large buttons that extends up the back of her neck. The lack of emotional engagement is evident in the piece by the blank stare in the distance.

Picasso's Sylvette is a weirdly beautiful painting that was created towards the end of his painting career. It is the presentation of all his boom stages and the resurrection of his character. His creativity comes out through a decent and still beautiful female character. The beauty in the painting brings about skepticism in the viewer of the relationship between Sylvette and Picasso. It is apparent through the multiple rough drafts and hours of work, that Picasso felt some interest in Sylvette (Pablo Picasso n.p). The timid and innocent young girl shines through in the photo as if to portray she does not see her beauty. The coat that is worn was given to Sylvette by her fiance and was something that was worn constantly. More than likely as a reminder to Picasso that she is not single. Picasso sees it and can exemplify her beauty through his cubism effect that extenuates her polished features. Cubism is based on the concepts that are pieces of a whole, and are observed from a continuously changing viewpoint. The first impression of the art is just a young girl with a high ponytail that is staring to the side. The story behind the piece and how infatuated Picasso was with Sylvette adds to the relevance and appeal.

Picasso is an artist filled with emotion and uses art to communicate his feelings to the audience. His productivity and variation invoke curiosity and skepticism, which is portrayed in his work, La Vie and Sylvette. Picasso use of colors in the paintings is symbolic. La Vie tells the story of a friend who suffered from poverty and depression. The portrait is rich in emotion showcasing the painter's deep connection with the character. The attention to detail in the Sylvette expresses the painter's obsession with the character. Through cubism, the painter shows his feelings for the woman in the painting. Picasso left a legacy of creativity, emotion, and attachment. These feelings characterized his life and art profession. Though he went through a difficult life in his early years, he managed to turn it around through artwork. He was a fighter who never gave up. His friend gave up and committed suicide, but he kept pushing and made a situation better from the previous one. Painting the La Vie on an older painting is one such symbolism of a new chapter from a previous one. Even though the new life was not any better, he managed to move on. His paintings reflect his emotional life.

Works Cited

Charles, Victoria. Pablo Picasso, Parkstone International, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=791258. Accessed 12 Feb. 2019.

Lucas, John, and Ladislas Segy. "Two Letters on Picasso." College Art Journal, vol. 14, no. 4, 1955, pp. 371. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/773151.

Matisse, Henri. Pablo Picasso Biography. Masterworks Fine Arts. https://www.masterworksfineart.com/ar...