Sculptures and paintings by a great artist, a trailblazer and a highly creative figure. - Picasso.

You can always learn from art, from all forms of art; there may even be moments in life when a particular work doesn’t catch our eye, we don’t even look at it, or perhaps we overlook an artist’s body of work as a whole. But life changes and we learn; we also learn to see the wonder, to look again at that particular artist and discover their greatness.

My style has always been realism, sometimes even too realistic, to the point where some people say that what I paint seems to leap out of the canvases. But I’ve also enjoyed experimenting with fantasy and even surrealist painting, although in the latter case I tend to apply it more to my digital designs.

Living in this city has given me a wonderful opportunity to learn about art and its styles throughout history, and I’ve come to better understand surrealism, and even abstract art and Cubism.

I remember the last post I made about Picasso, in which a fellow artist and follower, @jacey.boldart, explained to me in a comment some things I didn’t know about this artist. I was genuinely surprised, not by what she told me or by how Picasso painted using the Cubist technique, but by this man’s genius in taking something simple that happened to him in real life, such as a broken mirror, and turning it into an artistic technique that has revolutionised the field.

Metamorphosis II, Paris, January 1928, bronze with patina.

Pregnant Woman, 1949, bronze.

Head with Helmet, 1933, bronze with patina.

Woman, 1961, cut-out, bent and painted sheet metal.

Having visited the Picasso Museum several times, I’m lucky enough to have it in this city, and looked at his works, I realise that, whilst I wouldn’t create that sort of art myself, I can admire it as the product of an ingenious, imaginative and extremely creative mind. That’s what I admire.

The Picasso Museum is enormous, with many rooms that connect to others around a series of galleries, and it seems as though one could go on forever exploring it all. Furthermore, from time to time there are special temporary exhibitions on Picasso, which makes me think of the endless and inexhaustible nature of his work, an incredible creative process that seems never to have stopped throughout his life. Every artist has their own way of expressing themselves, of creating their own style and turning it into art.

Small Woman with Open Arms, 1961, cut-out and bent sheet metal, crayon and paint.

Standing Woman, 1953, wood, nails, wire, paint tin lid, plaster and modified oil paint.

Insect, 1951, fired white clay, thrown, incised, painted with engobes and oxides, glazed.

Bird, 1947–48, fired white clay, thrown, incised, painted with engobes and oxides, glazed.

Picasso adopted various styles throughout his life and also possessed the intelligence and creativity to produce art using the few resources available to him during the war, without the usual or standard materials required for this craft; he never stopped creating, ingenuity is everything.

At one point during the tour, I took the time to observe his sculptures from different angles, and they are truly astonishing. I love walking around them and looking in every direction. There were a great many people in the museum; it’s always full, it’s one of the favourite destinations for tourists, who come from all over the world.

As I always mention, it’s so good to have permanent explanations in the various areas of the museum, especially when they’re in two languages, as many tourists can read English.

Winged Bull, Study for a ceramic work, 1947, graphite on paper.

Women, Study for a ceramic work, 1947, graphite on paper.

The Flute Player, 1956, white chamotte clay, incised.

Still Life, 1948, oil and crayon on plywood.

Female Form, 1948, white clay, fired, thrown, modelled and glazed.

La Faunesa, 1947–48, white clay, fired, thrown, modelled and painted with engobe and glaze.

In this town, which is Picasso’s birthplace, ceramics serve as the link between the archaeology of the ancient Greeks, decorative Muslim tiles and the earthenware of the artist’s childhood. When he began working at the Madoura pottery factory in Vallauris in 1947, he chose ceramics as one of the fundamental media through which to preserve the ancient legacy whilst simultaneously reinventing himself.

Figure, 1971, modified oil painting on canvas.

Bullfighter, 1970, modified oil painting on canvas.

Bather, 1971, oil painting on canvas.

In the final years of his life, Picasso returned to the traditions of his homeland and continued to work tirelessly, undeterred by the limitations of his age. Between 1970 and 1973, he organised an exhibition of 201 paintings, although he was unable to attend the opening as he passed away six weeks beforehand.

Bather at Play, 1958, plaster, wood and metal, painted and varnished.

Seated Nude, 1967, modified oil painting on plywood.

Boy with a Spade, 1971, oil on canvas.

Some of these works are on display in this room, and it was a great privilege for me to stand before them; they represent the main themes the artist chose for the final part of his life.

Musketeer with a Sword, 1972, oil on canvas.

Musketeer, 1969, fired red clay, incised, painted with engobes and glaze, and partially glazed.

Man, Woman and Child, 1972, oil on canvas.

In Section 12, situated in a very small room set apart from the rest of the exhibition, I was able to see more of Picasso’s marvellous Works, pieces created after the Second World War that explore themes linked to his childhood and the city of Málaga: bullfighting and ceramics.

Traditional plates and platters featuring designs of bulls, bullfighters and even the entire bullring, as if they were aerial views of the subject. The plates were mainly made to order, and there was even a series centred on the bull’s head, transforming it into a mythical creature, with the head and horns filling the plate and an intense gaze, alluding to the Minotaur and to Picasso himself.

I’m always learning a little more about this artist, and I hope to see many more exhibitions about him or related artists in this truly spectacular museum. Thank you for joining me today; I wish you all a very happy Sunday. See you soon.
Amonet.

All photographs are my own.