Picasso Drawings

"Art is the elimination of the unnecessary. " – Picasso

Picasso was born in October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain and died April 8, `973 in Mougins, France. From an early age Picasso showed an interest in drawing which lead to his father formally training him. When his family moved to Barcelona, his father took up a professorship at the School of Fine Arts and convinced the academy to let young Picasso take an entrance exam. He passed and was admitted into the school at the age of 13. Picasso’s father later sent him to Madrid to attend the Royal Academy of San Fernando where eventually dropped out because of dislike the instruction at the school. He also had realized that he no longer wanted to be part of his parent’s plan for his future. He set out for Paris shortly after dropping out and maintained connections in Paris and Barcelona. His career set out after this.

His early life really defined his life’s work. He had been a formally trained artist who had met all of his parent’s expectations but realized that he no longer wanted to be a part of that. His work is very distinct in that he never settled on a single style or medium but was able to express himself in so many ways. His work is a dissonance of his training. It is not precise but expressive.

I saw some of Picasso’s work when it was exhibited in the Nasher last year. I was very impressed by the wide range of work he had produced. There were a series of sketches and charcoal drawings that were standouts to me. The sketches were rough and incomplete but were still cohesive and well made. In many ways those sketches were his way of sculpting his subjects with lines instead of stone. He was able to eliminate all the unnecessary visual noise to create work that got to the core of the subject.

I hope to see his work next semester when I visit Barcelona.