Quote: Picasso

 

“Every positive value has its price in negative terms . . .  the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.”

-          Pablo Picasso (1881 -1973)

Spanish painter, sculptor and graphic artist.  His prolific inventiveness and technical versatility made him the dominant figure in modern art in the first half of the 20^th century.

While on the topic of Picasso, what do you think of his sculpture Bull’s Head, made in 1942 whilst he was living and working in occupied France.  It is made from the seat and handlebars of a bicycle.  A common comment is “I could have done that”, to which the common response is “But you didn’t, he did.”  Is it art?  Is it good art?  Is it simply a piece of whimsical tomfoolery?  This was one of the first sculptures to use found pieces as the medium for sculpting, materials being in short supply in 1942 in France.  His innovation inspired the move towards using already existing items, recycled materials and found objects for sculpting.  Another is Baboon and Young (1951), which also uses recycled objects.  Note the use of the toy car for the head.