Pablo Picasso liked to work fast. When no new canvases were handy, he painted over what he already had. He reportedly completed his masterpiece of the Spanish Civil War, Guernica, in six weeks. And, living in the south of France in his 80s, he had a pair of master print makers relocated from Paris to Read More
Pablo Picasso has always been easy to hate. Renowned as a protean talent who changed the course of Western art, he’s equally renowned for his many and egregious personal failings. Such a charged figure seems beyond the realm of apathy, but the redoubtable Spaniard has, in recent years, become a bore. Marquee value all but Read More
Restitution strikes again! The Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation are currently in court battling a German scholar who claims their Picasso paintings were rightfully owned by his Jewish great uncle, who was persecuted in Nazi Germany.
[Persecutor Julian H.] Schoeps demanded on Nov. 1 Read More
A LIFE OF PICASSO: THE TRIUMPHANT YEARS, 1917-1932
By John Richardson
Alfred A. Knopf, 592 pages, $40
In this, the third installment of John Richardson’s epic biography of Picasso, we find that the artist, age 36, having been spurned by two mistresses to whom he’d proposed marriage, has fled wartime Paris for Read More
“One of the most ambitious … undertakings in the Whitney’s history” is how Adam Weinberg, the museum’s director, describes Picasso and American Art, an exhibition that sets out to examine the “profound impact” Picasso had on painters and sculptors stateside.
It had damn well better be an ambitious undertaking. Picasso’s influence on world art—forget the Read More
“One of the most ambitious … undertakings in the Whitney’s history” is how Adam Weinberg, the museum’s director, describes Picasso and American Art, an exhibition that sets out to examine the “profound impact” Picasso had on painters and sculptors stateside.
It had damn well better be an ambitious undertaking. Picasso’s influence on world art—forget Read More
The viability of an artistic tradition depends upon the determination and momentum an artist brings to it. We’ve all seen paintings, drawings or sculptures that reiterate firmly established conventions, often with appealing dexterity and patent intensity. They can be pleasing to look at. Invariably, though, they’re unnecessary—nostalgic glosses with noble intentions.
It’s one thing just Read More
Anyone extolling the virtues of Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, should start with one caveat: As with most blockbusters, the exhibition of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, books, ceramics—you name it—is impossible to take in during a single visit. There’s a ton of stuff to look Read More
Anyone extolling the virtues of Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, should start with one caveat: As with most blockbusters, the exhibition of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, books, ceramics—you name it—is impossible to take in during a single visit. There’s a ton of stuff to look Read More
How predictable is the Met’s fall schedule? Predictable enough to have us thanking our lucky stars that its umpteen-year roll of stellar exhibitions continues unabated. Case in point: Cézanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde, opening on Sept. 14, will highlight the astonishing foresight of the Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard (1866-1939).
Upon Read More
