“The Picasso Style”
It can be said that after the neo-classicist period, which mostly coincided with his relationship and marriage to Olga Khokhlova, Picasso went into his own. Some may say that the paintings of the years, say from about 1954, after the relationship with Françoise Gilot ended, to the end of his days in 1973, are expressionistic, surreal and some even said abstract. Of course any real art historian will tell you that Picasso never painted a single abstract painting. He never said a kind thing about abstract, a form he clearly did not like. However, without a doubt there is much abstract art within his figurative canvases. But, no matter what the «experts» say, the accepted name for this period in the painter’s life is the “Picasso Style”.
Picasso met Françoise Gilot in Paris during WWII while living in the Rue de Grands Augustins. She was twenty-one years old and had already started painting by then and was very much impressed with Picasso who, by that time was already a well established painter. I am not going to go into all the ins and outs of their relationship. After all it lasted for ten years (1943-1953) and it was rather stormy, to say the least. But during that time, like he always did, he painted his partner, family and surroundings.
Although they never married they did have two children, Claude (1947) and Paloma (1949). Françoise was the only woman who actually got up and left Picasso. He was astonished and could not believe it. He even said that no woman ever left him. After all he was the man who said that women were either goddesses or door-mats. But Gilot was not a door-mat, as he had thought of her, and left him and never came back.
Of course Françoise was the subject of many paintings. The most famous, of her many portraits was “La Femme Fleur” of 1946. As you may know, Picasso was an autobiographical painter. He once even alluded to the fact that his diary were his paintings. He painted his wives, companions, partners, dealers, children, his surroundings, the things of his time and everything and anything connected with his life. He truly captured the spirit of the times he lived in and the people and things that existed around him. I suppose he would have been an avid Instagrammer in these days.
To help him deal with the end days, which were certainly en route, although still quite distant, Jacqueline Roque, whom he met in 1953. And in 1955, after his first wife Olga Khokhlova, whom he refused to divorce for financial reasons, passed away, he was free to marry Jacqueline. Jacqueline took excellent care of him and posed for a surprising 400 portraits, some of them not very flattering. She remained with him until the end of his days.
Pablo Picasso died in Mougins on the 8th of April 1973 at the age of 91 years. Jacqueline was not allowed to bury him there, so she chose his last resting place to be the grounds of the Château of Vauvenargues.
Lamentably, in 1986, Jacqueline took her own life in Mougins where they had lived.
CHEERS
JaZzArt en València 
We visited the Picasso museum in Malaga and were surprised by the amount of ‘normal’ paintings. Funny that he didn’t like abstract paintings since those are what he’s famous for, and what we had gone to the museum to see 😊
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Actually Picasso never painted an abstract piece in his entire career which means thousands of paintings. He never had a kind word to say about abstract art and despised it. If a painting has something, a figure or anything else related to normal, real life, it is a figurative painting, no matter how distorted, or surreal the figures may be. Picasso was always a figurative painter. Thank you so much and I am glad you enjoyed the museum. The one in Barcelona is also phenomenal. 😊
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Oh, I didn’t realize abstract didn’t have people/figures in them. Thanks for the explanation.
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My pleasure. There are only 2 art forms, abstract (which means there is nothing in it that can be related or similar to anything in the world) and figurative, which is everything else. Cheers.
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Thank you, Francesco, for your tribute to Pablo Picasso, the painter you very much like, and your short biography of his life. I liked the work you presented, which, as always, was interesting.
Joanna
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Yes, Picasso is my mentor and my main reference. I do not applaud his lifestyle nor his treatment of women, but I cannot and will not judge someone from another time when things were quite different. I truly appreciate your time and your visits. Wishing you a smashing good day! All the best!
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Thank you, Francesco, and you are welcome!
Joanna
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Thank you Joanna, always a pleasure.
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He was a very talented artist (in all senses of the word). I like his artwork much better than his opinions of women.
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I thought so. I do too. And you are right, his talent (through hard work) took him from painting to sculpture, ceramics, etchings, drawings, theatre sets and costume designs, and poetry, which he did write… Thank you Pat and all the best.
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My art appreciation professor my freshman year in college told me she was going to make me like Picasso if it was the last thing she did. Needless to say, that only made me dig in my heels. A person cannot «make» another person like art that does not speak to them. In class she was only exposing us to his most bizarre pieces. I could not make any sense out of them, so I just found them confusing. An elective course, which should have opened up a whole new world to me as an 18-year-old, instead ended up to be a huge disappointment and left me with a negative opinion of Picasso for many years. Francis, many of your blog posts have helped me to finally appreciate his work. Your posts have widened my appreciation of art more than that «Art Appreciation» course ever did.
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Thank you so much Janet! Wow! That certainly makes my day, or week! This is my mission, to bring appreciation to art, but not to force it, or a particular painter, down anyone’s throat. My preferences are known, but I try to focus on all the others with the same enthusiasm and respect. Art history is full of phenomenal painters (male and female) and outside of the official history there are many more, again both men and women, who should be included but have been purposefully left out. I am trying, as much as I can, to let people know about them, and I don’t know, perhaps one of these posts reaches someone who can actually do something to change the status quo and then we will see what happens. I am thrilled that you like my series on art and that you have gained new perspectives, especially on my particular favourite, Pablo Picasso. All the best!
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I knew Picasso was your favorite, and I decided it was finally time for me to let you know what my experience in college was, which clouded my appreciation of his artistry for many years. For that course to be titled «Art Appreciation» turned out to be a misnomer for sure! You have many loyal readers. I’m sure I’m not the only one for whom you have broaden their horizons and enhanced their knowledge of and appreciation for many aspects of the visual arts. So keep doing what you are doing, Francis. We are out here always wondering what new artist or artistic concept you have in store for us. All the best from a beautiful, warm spring day in North Carolina!
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Thank you so much Janet. Those words mean a lot to me and I appreciate them greatly. I am so glad you are having nice weather. Hope you have continued sunshine and warmth as the days progress forward summer. All the best!
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This was a great series, Thank you dear Francisco, Love, nia
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Thank you so much dear Nia and I am so glad you liked it. All the best!
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