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Loading... Picasso: A Biographyby Patrick O'Brian
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Picasso was one of the great creative forces of the twentieth century, a man at the heart of the modern movement in the arts for seven decades. Patrick O'Brian knew Picasso and he has produced a biography that is an enormously convincing portrait of both the artist and the man. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)759.4The arts Painting History, geographic treatment, biography France and regionLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Although he has likes and dislikes among Picasso's art, O'Brian does more description than criticism, putting the works in their context and out of this context building the life of Picasso. His father started him painting (he was a professional artist himself)and Malaga, Catalonia, Paris and the Mediterranean were essential influences. He was a sociable person throughout his life and seemed to meet and befriend (at least at first) everyone, including Braque, Matisse, Rousseau - with influential collectors such as Leo and Gertrude Stein giving him early support in Paris.
O'Brian, I think rightly, emphasizes the strong influence of women on Picasso and shows his ups and downs, married and otherwise as a powerful key to his art.
I think that this is an exceptionally good book and I love the early 20th century Spanish, Catalan, Paris and Côte d'Azur background. The fashion for beaches had not yet started and Picasso could swim from a deserted Cap d'Antibes. ( )