You've gotta love Picasso!
Shazza, M, Semiconductor and I visited the Cezanne and Beyond exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Friday. This was a wonderful exhibit, not just of Cezanne's work, but of many of the artists who were influenced by him. In one gallery, there was a wonderful painting of Madame Cezanne in her red armchair. There were also three or four paintings done by other artists (Matisse, Picasso, Beckmann) of their significant women, muses, mistresses et al in red armchairs.
This particular Picasso painting was of his mistress at the time. I enjoyed the painting. I thought it was quite beautiful. I picked up on the exposed breast and felt that Picasso must have felt that this woman was quite sexually attractive.
Afterwards, M asked Shazza and me if we noticed this painting. We did. It was quite remarkable. This spurred a bit of interesting conversation! I will not drop the ball. I want to know YOUR thoughts!
I have just completed teaching a unit on art criticism. Art criticism consists of the following four elements: Description, (what, who, where & how?), Analysis (what formal elements did the artist use?), Interpretation (What was the artist trying to say) and Judgment (Was the artist successful? What do you like and/or dislike about the painting?)
I thought it would be fun to ask fellow bloggers to criticize this painting. I will not forget M's interpretation. I just want to know if anyone else had a similar reaction. Steve Wynn, the owner of the painting and Las Vegas casinos felt the same as M. ( This is a bit of a psychological experiment. Please post your responses!
After you have commented, click on the post title find the link to Nora Ephron's blog. http://www.theunderserved.com/arts/the-100m-klutz.html You will discover some other interesting history/trivia about this painting. Does your interpretation match Mr. Wynn's? What does that say about Picasso? What does that say about you? Something to contemplate on this Easter evening. Love and Peace to you all.
