Pablo Picasso.
Leeper briefly talked about him in the class, and he also showed up in the movie that was presented in the Signs and Wonders.
To be honest, I don't really understand much of his works. Looking at his works is like listening to classical music: I appreciate it, but I don't get it. It is like there is a sensation, but I don't really understand what caused the sensation in me. I guess it is like eating something without knowing the recipe.
"First Communion" is the painting that Picasso completed when he was 16. As you can see above, it is impressive for a teenager to have drawn something so delicate and mysterious. Yes, Picasso was a genius.
Here is the problem. If you can draw something like "First Communion" when you are 16, no one will doubt that you are a genius. However, if you continue to draw like that when you become an adult, you are no longer a genius, because the drawing is no different from the others. Any professional artists can draw like that. For young Picasso "First Communion" was a milestone, but for Picasso, who is no longer a child, it becomes a mediocre.
Leeper briefly talked about him in the class, and he also showed up in the movie that was presented in the Signs and Wonders.
To be honest, I don't really understand much of his works. Looking at his works is like listening to classical music: I appreciate it, but I don't get it. It is like there is a sensation, but I don't really understand what caused the sensation in me. I guess it is like eating something without knowing the recipe.
"First Communion" is the painting that Picasso completed when he was 16. As you can see above, it is impressive for a teenager to have drawn something so delicate and mysterious. Yes, Picasso was a genius.
Here is the problem. If you can draw something like "First Communion" when you are 16, no one will doubt that you are a genius. However, if you continue to draw like that when you become an adult, you are no longer a genius, because the drawing is no different from the others. Any professional artists can draw like that. For young Picasso "First Communion" was a milestone, but for Picasso, who is no longer a child, it becomes a mediocre.
Diego Velazquez was Picasso's idol. Picasso wanted to become like him. In the early works of Picasso, he was heavily influenced by Velazquez, and Picasso did make a lot of reference to the works of Velazquez. However, Picasso became a genius not when he was able to perfectly imitate Velazquez, but when he was able to destroy everything that was set before.
Las Meninas by Velazquez
Las Meninas by Picasso
As you can compare two works above, Picasso rejected the perspective that was developed and appreciated since the Renaissance, and decided to set a new perspective that none have experimented before.
A child drawing like an adult is brilliant, but an adult drawing like an adult is boring. However, an adult drawing like a child might be interesting. As Leeper mentioned Picasso's quote in the class, "At 15 I painted like Velazquez, and it took me 80 years to paint like a child."
I believe that, for Picasso, his paradigm shift was not triggered by his effort to be different or to bring change, but I think it was a matter of "authenticity", in other words, "being truthful" to his own expression or taking full responsibility of his own intention.
Pablo Picasso did say, "art is a lie that makes us realize truth". However, I believe that only "truthful lie" can do its job.
For the side note, going back to the main point of my previous blog..maybe better way to put his quote is "art is a reflection that makes us realize truth".
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