Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is one of those Modern artists that many people know of, but don't really know any of his paintings. He is not like van Gogh where people know Starry Night. He is the kind of guy where we say, "Oh, yeah, I've seen his paintings before. I didn't know that was him." I think he is one artist we should actually thank. Without him, the world of Cubism would not have been as strong. His works are uniquely tasteful as well as culturally driven. 

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is perhaps one of Pablo Picasso's most famous works. The image depicts five women, who are prostitutes modeling for Picasso. One is squatting while the others are standing in a more seductive manner. For one thing, the women are all nude, but they flaunt their body in order to attract. However, one might take a second look at this painting and begin to feel a bit puzzled. Some of the faces seem to look almost normal, but the two women on the right actually seem to have distorted faces. This was not an accident or because Picasso did not know about human anatomy, but because he was influenced with African art. African art plays not only a big part in Picasso's art, but in the world of Cubism. 

I have a video here from the movie Titanic. The quality is not good, nor is it in English, but it was the only video I could find. The video shows Rose holding Les Demoiselles, but that always makes me laugh because in reality, there would be no possible way for her to hold it. It's not because she wouldn't be able to obtain it, and yes, that is true, she would never be able to own it, but she would not be able to hold it mainly due to the fact it is about 90 inches long, which is about 7.5 feet high and 7.5 feet wide. Her arm-span must be huge to be able to hold it.

Another most notable painting is Guernica, a reflection of post-war and the effects is has. It was painted in the response to the Spanish Civil War in 1937. German and Italian planes bombed the city of Guernica, and this painting is to show the aftermath of such destruction. The image depicts a series of chaos and strong emotion from various figures who are trying to take shelter from the bombing. In the foreground lies a dead body while a woman in the background holds her dead son. A horse and cow scream out as they also feel the terror of the bombing. 

I couldn't find a video, so I brought in an image from the blockbuster hit Children of Men starring Clive Owen and Julianne Moore. The actual painting is displayed in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, but in this movie, the government has taken control of the world's great works of art, including a very familiar looking piece....

  

Here is a clip from the show Family Guy where Meg does a cutaway scene to Picasso.