Maggie's World of Arts: Picasso and Modern British Art Exhibition

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) definitely changed the face of twentieth century art. He was just 14 years old when he enrolled the Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona and later he studied in Madrid. He eventually moved to France where he worked and died in 1973.

His early work, 1900-1904, was strongly influenced by Van Gogh and Lautreca, most of his paintings were maintained in the tone of blue, this period was called CYAN. Themes of blue focused on performances of straight people; often his characters were associated with the world of the circus. This is the time when Picasso painted ‘Life’ (1903) and ‘The Old Guitarist’ (1903).

In 1904-1905 there was a change in Picasso’s paintings, rose colours started to dominate in his work. This period was called ROSE PERIOD, the style was more subtle and delicate. Picasso was also fascinated by African culture; he was impressed by exotics of the Western art which also had an influence on his work. Some elements of this fascination were revealed in ‘Lady of Avignon’ (1907), unfortunately the painting isn't on display at Tate Modern,it's in New York at the Museum of Modern Art.

From 1907 to 1917 Picasso introduced us to cubism. A precursor to the cubism was the portrait of Gertrude Stein. In 1926 he returned to the surrealist movement, painting from this period were fulfilled with movement, dynamism, pictures were deformed and surprising. You can see it in ‘Dance’ (1915) and ‘The Weeping Woman’ (1928) which can be seen at Tate Britain.

One of his most famous works is the image of ‘Guernica’ (1937), it was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by Germans and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces,26 April 1937,during the Spanish Civil War. This impressive painting is also a part of the exhibition. Picasso also designed theatrical costumes and created books illustrations.

Picasso and Modern British Art Exhibition runs from Feb-15 July 2012 at Tate Britain. Apart from Picasso’s artwork, you will have a chance to see stunning work of seven leading British artist; Duncan Grant, Wyndham Lewis, Ben Nicolson, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Graham Sutherland and David Hockney.