Picasso's Variations On the Masters

Rating:
Summary: Inspiring for amateur artists
Review: Throughout his career, Picasso used classic paintings as inspiration for his own work. Typically, the earlier paintings did not inspire just a single work, but a sequence of paintings, sometimes dozens of them.

This book follows the in-depth process behind the creation of some of these sequences, including those inspired by Manet's "Le déjeuner sur l'herbe" and Velasquez's "Las Meninas". Many of the paintings in each sequence are illustrated, and the commentary, though somewhat academic in tone, is quite useful.

I am not an art historian, but I found this book inspiring, especially for amateur artists like me.

First, it shows that, for Picasso, art was a process, rather than a goal. As the sequences develop, we can see him continuously reinterpreting the original, changing directions, as a way of exploring the original and his reactions to it. Many of the steps are incomplete, or inadequate in some way. I personally found this reassuring! So often, we only see the major works, and they are treated as if they had been perfectly formed, rather than the conclusion of a series of experiments. (David Hockney has mentioned that owning Picasso's catalogue raisonné made him understand Picasso in a whole new way).

Second, the whole premise of the book is that is OK to be derivative (in the best sense). Our art culture places an extreme value on originality. The idea of copying great art, and being inspired by it to develop your own variations on a theme, is currently underappreciated, even though this technique has always been used by great artists. (In art, Van Gogh comes to mind. And in music, Bach, Mozart, and of course, all jazz musicians). This book shows that this approach can indeed be useful and productive, and if Picasso used it, maybe it can get some respect!

In other words, if you are an artist, feeling pressure to create perfect, original works, relax! Don't be afraid to experiment.