On this trip to Chicago, I was lucky enough to see the Picasso: Drawing from Life exhibition before it closed on April 8th. I always enjoy seeing the works of the great artists up close, so I can inspect their craftsmanship detail. Experiencing well-crafted artwork always makes you better at your own craft regardless of if their medium is the same or different as yours.
The curators designed this exhibition to examine the people in Pablo Picasso’s life who supported him as he developed as an artist. It considers his artist network, the art dealers who promoted his work, the printers who crafted his editions, his family and friends, as well as his lovers. The exhibition is centered on his works on paper to tell this story. The exhibition illustrated how Picasso needed this support network to achieve the prominence he gained in his career.
The exhibition is arranged chronologically and showcases over 60 of his works to illustrate Picasso’s incredible 70-year career. It was incredible to consider all the world events that occurred during the period in which Picasso lived and how they impacted his works.
I loved drawing as a child, my mom knew how important it was to be creative while developing, but I have never been satisfied with my drawing or art skills. I always wanted to be more accurate like several of my talented friends were. I assume that desire to better with a pencil or brush may have helped influence me becoming a photographer. I loved seeing the artist’s had in this work above, Seated Female Nude - Sumer 1909, I was probably drawn to the detail with this work more than the whole image.
The lithograph above, Paloma and Her Doll on a Black Background, got my attention because I was interested in how he documented his feelings for his daughter for his daughter with it as well as the innocence element of Paloma’s relationship with her doll. As today’s world gets more tense, I have paid more attention to examples of the innocence of youth and their fragility. It is deeper than I want to go in to here, but this print had an impact.
I loved seeing this drawing Six Busts of Women because I was able to spend so much time on the trip photographing the actual statue in Daley Square. For all the time I have spent in Chicago I have never explored Daley Square before as much as I did on this trip. Loved learning more about the subject matter in my photographs from there.
One of Picasso’s most important Cubist Portraits, a painting of Picasso’s long-standing promoter and influential art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1884-1979) (Below)
Below are more random selections of works in the exhibition. I truly appreciate Pablo Picasso’s work, especially how he worked with so many different materials and was not afraid to explore with his creativity.
The Art Institutes copy of the famous Picasso etching Minotauimachia (Above)
In honor of Picasso’s titling style (maybe his dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler handled the titles since so many are obvious descriptions of the work, seemingly assigned for record keeping purposes) I title my photograph below: My Daughter Alyssa by sign for the Picasso Exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute.
