Thursday, August 31, 2006

Picasso Museum


Another of the small "house" museums in Paris is the Picasso Museum. (I wrote about Picasso and the museum a bit May 14, and I posted about the Rodin Museum May 3.) The building that has housed the Picasso Museum since 1985, is Hôtel Salé, 5, rue de Thorigny, built in 1656.

I am partial to certain of Picasso's works in this museum. For instance, of all his paintings, this portrait of Jacqueline is my favorite. I see myself in her I guess, those sharp lines that need softening.

Even more than this, I love Picasso's sculptures built from found objects done in the 1950s.


The goat. See the leather fringe on his side? What do you think his head is made from?

The stork. See the shovel and spigot?


The bull. Bicycle seat and handlebars.



The baboon. Car for a head.

There is something reassuring as well as conservationist in the use of found objects in art. I love the idea of using what already exists, has been tossed aside and is unused, to create something interesting and beautiful. I also find that seeing what is familiar in a sculpture of something else gives me a sense of understanding and connection I might not have found without the object being used that way.

It reminds me of writing poetry. We find fragments in everyday life and put them together with other fragments that no one would think to put together. And they become unified and deeper, if the poet is good.

9 comments:

Ginnie Hart said...

Since you happen to be one of those "good" poets, I can see why you have this connection to Picasso's sculptures! What a great juxtaposition of those two art forms. Thanks!

Ruth said...

Thank you, Ginnie. :)

Anonymous said...

Existing and imaginative both are intersting Ruth, Henry Moore for instance. Haven't seen many of Picasso's sculptures. Thanks so much for posting them, I have seen none of them before.

Somewhere on the net saw metal sculpture by Cuchiara, Her bronze faces are stunning.

Anonymous said...

Ruth, I posted the comment as 'other' put my name and the blog site address

Ruth said...

Rauf, I'm happy you are able to post as "other" until Blogger works out the kinks with the new beta settings. Thank you for the extra effort you took to leave a comment.

I am more drawn to these found object sculptures of Picasso's than his metal ones (like the big one in Chicago). They are organic and earthy.

Anonymous said...

Wow, his sculptural work is so much more modern that I would have imagined. Funny, the pathology book which I have been teaching from has terrible illustrations. They are not labeled and can be interpreted a myriad of ways. I tell my students, "Remember, these pictures are like a Picasso- there is no right or wrong way to interpret them, as long as they give meaning to what you have learned."

Ruth said...

Rachel, that is clever and funny. I love thinking about anatomy books being like Picassos.

Unknown said...

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q-q said...

great post! very helpful. keep it up!

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