Pablo Picasso 1881-1973: Genius of the Century (Basic Art)

Rating:
Summary: Introducing the genius
Review: A very successful introduction to Picasso's work and life! Whether you just want to admire his paintings or try to learn from him, this book is a good choice. Some people don't understand Picasso and are insulted by astronomic prices of his "childish" looking paintings. In this book Ingo F. Walther sheds light on the phenomenon of this genius by presenting all the phases of painter's development that naturally resulted in the spontaneous expressions of his imagery. Or with the artist's words: "When I was as old as these children, I could draw like Raphael. But it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them!" Thus we can follow Picasso from his youth, blue and rose periods to his invention of cubism and all the way to his late works. In addition there are chapters on his sculptures, posters and ceramics.

The book also gives a rich selection of interesting aspects of Picasso's life. An enormous publicity was haunting him as well as helping him test his brave inventions. Whatever he touched turned to gold. When he finally grew tired of publicity and decided to move from Paris to a provincial village of Ménerbes, he was given a chalet in exchange for a still life.


Rating:
Summary: Poorly Executed Text; Good Collection of Color Plates
Review: An abundance of full-color plates and numerous black-and-white photographs made this book worth the modest price. The text is awkward. It sounds as if English is not the author's first language and certain elements of carelessness in the writing suggest that the author was more concerned with the manuscript deadline than scholarship. Picasso's own words, appearing as blocked quotes in the margins are not dated, nor sources given. The reader is not able to chronologically trace the change in philosophy reflected in his words. The text also suffers from an inordinate number of typographical errors. Walther's poorly disguised gut reaction of disgust in describing some of Picasso's work may reflect the reaction his early critics felt in viewing some of his paintings. Walther uses words such as "horror," "grotesque," "misshapen," and "ugly," at one point writing, "Picasso wanted to destroy absolutely everything."

Rating:
Summary: A great value.
Review: For anyone who is seeking a decent overview of Picasso's work, this is a good bet for the modest price. Granted the writing may seem a bit akward, but it's perfectly readable and not misrepresentative. I admit, I haven't finished reading the book entirely, but there is a fairly concise chapter concerning each stage of his artistic career, and plenty of good color and B&W reproductions that are a good sample of his incredibly large and varied body of work. Anyone who is more than superficially interested in Picasso could never get by on just one book anyway, and this is a very good primer. The best Taschen published art book I have seen.

Rating:
Summary: A broad overview of Picasso's work
Review: This book provides a running biography, complemented by pictures of works from all his major periods--blue, rose, analytic and synthetic cubism, neoclassicism, and political art. It is interesting, and certainly hits on all the highlights of his career, but one cannot help but leave this book with a vague dissatisfaction. Picasso is so incredibly prolific that it is an awkward task to attempt to cover his entire career in these 240 pages. The result is more of an overview than an indepth exploration. [Granted, a book like that would fill volumes]...but I think that if Warncke had chosen to focus on just a few aspects of Picasso's work, the book would feel less cramped. This book is an ideal introduction to Picasso for someone who is experiencing him for the first time. However, more established fans of Picasso's work may feel that they didn't learn anything they didn't already know.