Picasso, A Mythical Monster
“We are governed by our moods; should be the other way around”
– Haresh Sippy
I’m reading Picasso: Creator and Destroyer by Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington. For some, it is the darkest portrayal yet of the celebrated father of Cubism in modern art: Pablo Picasso.
According to Arianna Huffington, Picasso was a wretchedly flawed genius, sadistic and treacherous, a liar who betrayed friends and colleagues, a misogynist who tormented a succession of wives and mistresses.
In her preface Huffington explains that
It was, in fact, this struggle between the instinct to create and the instinct to destroy that was at the heart of his life, and it is this struggle which is at the heart of this book (pp.9-10)
Surprise was the key characteristic of Picasso’s art. He changed the imagery of our time as we can see in his painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907), called the most innovative painting since the work of Giotto. It is one of his most famous artworks along with Three Musicians, Girl Before A Mirror, The Old Guitarist, Seated Woman (Marie-Therese), Dora Maar au Chat, Blue Nude, Le Rêve, Asleep, and Nude, Green Leaves and Bust.
I believe my painting Conquest of the Minute Hand, from my Time, Dreams and Fantasies series, shows his influence. It evokes our struggle to conquest time. In my opinion, because Picasso was one of the more original and influential artists of the twentieth century, it’s possible that we show traits of his influence in certain stage of our artistic development. Some art critics despise these traits but others think of them as a natural artistic process. After all, many professions study and observe their best precursors, so their influence in the student’s work is inevitable.
I have always admired the originality of Picasso and his tenacity to produce almost countless artworks. He certainly inspires me. I remember reading about Picasso saying in his deathbed that his goal was to paint like a child. There’s nothing purer than a child imagination. I think those words help us understand many of his artworks.
-Pablo Montes
