Picasso

Intimate, revealing memoir of Picasso as man and artist by influential literary figure. Highly readable amalgam of biographical fact, artistic and aesthetic comments: Picasso as founder of Cubism, associate of Apollinaire, Braque, Derain, other notables; titanic, creative spirit. One of Stein's most accessible works. 61 black-and-white illustrations. Index.

Intimate, revealing memoir of Picasso as man and artist by influential literary figure. Highly readable amalgam of biographical fact, artistic and aesthetic comments: Picasso as founder of Cubism, associate of Apollinaire, Braque, Derain, other notables; titanic, creative spirit. One of Stein's most accessible works. 61 black-and-white illustrations. Index.

Picasso was arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades—and included thousands of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, prints, and tapestries—his work continued to evolve in response to his own life and to events in the world around him. This elegant introduction to Picasso offers lively artistic and biographical commentary, as well as beautiful reproductions of key works. Readers will discover why Picasso’s work is often categorised by “periods” and his masterful achievements in the realms of neoclassicism, surrealism, and sculpture—in short, how his tremendous body of work reflected the development of modern art in the 20th century.

Picasso was arguably the most influential artist of the 20th century. Over the course of a career that spanned seven decades—and included thousands of paintings, sculptures, ceramics, drawings, prints, and tapestries—his work continued to evolve in response to his own life and to events in the world around him. This elegant introduction to Picasso offers lively artistic and biographical commentary, as well as beautiful reproductions of key works. Readers will discover why Picasso’s work is often categorised by “periods” and his masterful achievements in the realms of neoclassicism, surrealism, and sculpture—in short, how his tremendous body of work reflected the development of modern art in the 20th century.

The life of the world’s greatest modern artist by one of Britain’s greatest artists. 'Positive, original, diverting and highly effective.’ – Sunday Times ‘This biography achieves that rare distinction of never having a dull page.’ – Independent on Sunday Everything about Picasso, except his physical stature, was on an enormous scale. His appetitel for sex and money, eating and drinking, friends and quarrels, comedy and tragedy, are legendary. No artist of the first rank has been so aw-inspiringly productive. No artist of any rank has made so much money. A few artists have rivalled his life-span of ninety years, but none has attracted so insatiable a public interest. Patrick O’Brian, author of the famous Aubrey-Maturin novels, was a near neighbour of Picasso’s in the south of France for many years and knew him well. His much admired biography gives full weight to hte distinctly Mediterranean origins of Picasso’s character and art. The man that emerges from teh pages of this scholarly and passionate biography is one of many contradictions: hard and tender, mean and generous, affectionate and cold, private despite his relish of fame. A man who, despite the professed communism of his later years, in O’Brian’s view, retained to the end of his life a residual Catholic mentality.

Marina Picasso remembers being six years old and standing awkwardly in front of the gates of Picasso's grand house near Cannes. She was there with her father and eight-year-old brother to collect from her grandfather the weekly allowance that Picasso grudgingly gave his eldest son to support is family. Sometimes they were sent away and on other occasions, the gates would be opened and they would walk into the intimidating, exciting chaos of Picasso's studio to face the man himself and his unpredictable moods. Looking back, Marina can understand why Picasso had so little interest in his grandchildren; but at the time, she and her brother longed for him to love and understand them. Just a few miles away down the Côte d'Azur, they led a hand-to-mouth existence. Her father was a weak man, reliant on his father for everything and her mother lived in her own fantasy world; the family were therefore utterly dependent on Picasso. People assumed they were rich and privileged because they were Picassos and they were to live their lives under the burden of these assumptions. It was this that caused Marina's brother to commit suicide and when her father died Marina found herself in the ironic position of being one of the major heirs to Picasso's estate.

The life of the world’s greatest modern artist by one of Britain’s greatest artists. 'Positive, original, diverting and highly effective.’ – Sunday Times ‘This biography achieves that rare distinction of never having a dull page.’ – Independent on Sunday Everything about Picasso, except his physical stature, was on an enormous scale. His appetitel for sex and money, eating and drinking, friends and quarrels, comedy and tragedy, are legendary. No artist of the first rank has been so aw-inspiringly productive. No artist of any rank has made so much money. A few artists have rivalled his life-span of ninety years, but none has attracted so insatiable a public interest. Patrick O’Brian, author of the famous Aubrey-Maturin novels, was a near neighbour of Picasso’s in the south of France for many years and knew him well. His much admired biography gives full weight to hte distinctly Mediterranean origins of Picasso’s character and art. The man that emerges from teh pages of this scholarly and passionate biography is one of many contradictions: hard and tender, mean and generous, affectionate and cold, private despite his relish of fame. A man who, despite the professed communism of his later years, in O’Brian’s view, retained to the end of his life a residual Catholic mentality.

From his early studies to his final works, drawing was, for Picasso, an ever-renewing exploration of the powers of the line. Comprising over three hundred reproductions from his massive oeuvre, this collection features both well-received and rarely seen works, as well as images from his extraordinary notebooks. It features fifty penetrating essays that examine the themes, symbols and techniques that echo throughout Picasso’s career— from monsters, crucifixions, and self-portraits to crayon, cross- hatching, and ink. It includes book illustrations and plans for sculptures; color and figure studies; collage and journal entries. Stunning full-color reproductions allow readers to appreciate the enormous inventiveness and diversity of Picasso’s work, from serpentine lines to hatched drawing, from the delicate nuances of pastel to the deep blacks of ink. Accompanying the largest-ever exhibition of Picasso’s drawings and engravings, this gorgeous volume is a must-have for students and fans of one of the greatest artists of the modern era.

From his early studies to his final works, drawing was, for Picasso, an ever-renewing exploration of the powers of the line. Comprising over three hundred reproductions from his massive oeuvre, this collection features both well-received and rarely seen works, as well as images from his extraordinary notebooks. It features fifty penetrating essays that examine the themes, symbols and techniques that echo throughout Picasso’s career— from monsters, crucifixions, and self-portraits to crayon, cross- hatching, and ink. It includes book illustrations and plans for sculptures; color and figure studies; collage and journal entries. Stunning full-color reproductions allow readers to appreciate the enormous inventiveness and diversity of Picasso’s work, from serpentine lines to hatched drawing, from the delicate nuances of pastel to the deep blacks of ink. Accompanying the largest-ever exhibition of Picasso’s drawings and engravings, this gorgeous volume is a must-have for students and fans of one of the greatest artists of the modern era.