Goodbye, Picasso!

I don't like breakups. I can't stand that pain in my stomach when I know I'm leaving and may never go back to that place, never see again some people who meant something to me.

Next, I will tell about a recent breakup that wasn't so hard, because I was the only one emotionally involved and because the joy produced by this meeting outweighs the regret of the breakup!

It's about my encounter with... Picasso. Don't be frightened, it's not ghostwriting. I haven't yet reached the other world and come face to face with Picasso...

It's about my encounter with a small part of Picasso's work, almost 50 drawings, lithographs, and paintings. A very small part, considering that Picasso left the world with almost 50,000 works of art! So I have seen a thousandth of his work.

In this case, the parting refers to the fact that I will now write the last blog about the exhibition called Picasso Effect, which I saw in Romania, in Bucharest, at the MARe Museum. I tried to photograph and show here, hopefully to the delight of art lovers, almost all the paintings in the exhibition. Who is interested to see all that was included in this event exhibition, event because this exhibition in Romania was made as part of the celebration of Picasso in Europe, and 8 countries organized such exhibitions, can do that by reading my previous three posts:

Astazi am ajuns la despartire, la ultimul etaj din muzeu.

Goodbye, Picasso! It was a pleasure to be able to look closely at the drawings and paintings. I was impressed by being able to look at paintings and drawings made by Picasso, by the fact that I was looking at objects made by Picasso a hundred years ago, seventy years ago, fifty years ago...

Perhaps you sense an exaltation in the way I relate to a man called Picasso, a man with a not-so-good reputation, if you think about it from a private point of view, but, at the same time, he was an artist who profoundly influenced twentieth-century painting and beyond. We, of all people, have idols, we have role models that we look up to and admire. I, for example, greatly admire all those artists who worked in France, in Paris, at the beginning and in the first part of the twentieth century, such as the expressionists, Van Gogh, then the cubists and the non-figurative ones, like Picasso, sculptors like Brancusi, who was the first modern sculptor... and he was Romanian, which I'm very happy about.

That said, I will now go on to show you what remained unrepresented from the Picasso exhibition in Bucharest...

The exhibits are not placed in well-defined rooms, they are everywhere, wherever there is an open wall. These two drawings are placed in a narrow place near the staircase.

_{In the Arena. Young Man Vanquishing the Minotaur

Acvaforte - 1933}

_{Marie-Therese as a Vestal Watching over the Sleeping Minotaur

Acvaforte - 1933}

These drawings are inspired by ancient Greek art and Greek mythology.

I won't comment too much on the exhibits, I'll just list their names. This blog intends to show primarily works by Picasso in an exhibition. Otherwise, they can be seen in catalogs and on the net, but each exhibition is unique and different from the others and the drawings and paintings are more or less highlighted. It remains for everyone to have a personal opinion.

Because not only the exhibition is special, but also the way it was made and the way the museum looks is a new and modern concept, I will show not only pictures of paintings, I will also show areas of the museum and even visitors, mainly two ladies, my wife and a friend, who have shown, I think, their interest in art!

One of Picasso's large paintings is on display in this room. An important work where you can easily see all the elements the artist brought to the painting. The lack of respect for dimensions, perspective, and order. Disrespect... in general! Of course, he shocked and scandalized with this manner... but, although it seems easy to paint something like this, it is easy to say that we could do the same. We can't do it!

_{Reclining Nude and Man Playing Guitar

Oil on canvas - 1970}

Picasso has a famous saying that best simply explains his art, the way he paints...

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.source

So... he tried to draw like kids do. They don't know and they don't respect the canons. They draw what they want to convey to the viewer!

To illustrate how a child draws, here is a drawing made by my granddaughter Ilinca, who is four years old. The drawing shows her mother and father. You may not believe it but the father is the one on the left!

BeFunky-design.11.jpg

I think the easiest way to understand Picasso's art is that he wanted to represent the world as a child would have drawn it.

But back to the exhibition and exhibits!

_{The Reader

Oil on plywood - 1953}

I'd like to show you how this picture looks in the exhibition.

The exhibition is called "The Picasso Effect" and aims to show the influence that Picasso's art had on Romanian painters. I would like to document with some pictures this aspect.

_{Goat Skull on a Table

Sugar aquatint and scraper on copper - 1953}

It is well known that the image of horned animals, goats, and bulls, is very common in Picasso's paintings, lithographs, and drawings. Following are some exhibits of Romanian painters and sculptors who were inspired by Picasso...

_{Darie Dup - Trophy}
BeFunky-collage (1).jpg

_{Alexandru Razvan - Zeus and Europa}

_{Dumitru Gorzo - Lilith}

In the passageways, in the narrow hallways, the opinions of Romanian painters about Picasso and how he influenced them are written on the walls...

This is also the opinion of Dumitru Gorzo, who painted Lilith.

He says he hopes he was not influenced by Picasso but that he learned something very important: "He is an artist who showed me that almost anything is possible."

There was much to see and learn. My wife tried to read and understand everything.

Another opinion of a Romanian artist who does not shy away from saying that Picasso was an important model for him.

IRLO is a graffiti artist.

Another painting by a Romanian artist, Constantin Piliuta, which I like very much.
_{Constantin Piliuta - Portrait

Oil on canvas - 1984}

The influence of Picasso is obvious!

Some images of the museum.

BeFunky-collage (2).jpg

Stairs and railings. They could almost be considered works of... modern art.

Some happy faces. This is proof that true art brings joy to the face and happiness to the soul!

My wife and our friend.

I now return to Picasso's works, which are our main attraction and interest in this exhibition. Different works, show the multiplicity of the themes he tackled.

_{Mandolin on a Pedestal Table

Gouache on cardboard - 1920}

_{Still Life: Guitar, Newspaper, Glass, and Ace of Clubs

Oil on canvas - 1914}

_{Woman Sunbathing on the Beach

Charcoal and oil on silk paper - 1932}

_{Woman's Head

Oil on canvas - 1921}

_{Sleeping Woman with Shutters

Oil and charcoal on canvas - 1936}

_{Jacqueline's Head with Head

Lithographs - 1962}

and... a personal interpretation of a famous painting.

_{"Luncheon on the Grass" after Manet

Oil on canvas - 1961}

These paintings may be considered a little obscene, but I don't think that can be said about a great painter. To show you that it's not only Picasso who pushes the boundaries a bit, I'll show you what sculpture you see resting on the museum terrace. On the roof! This is permanent there and belongs to the museum.

What can I say... except that I don't know who the author is, but he is certainly an important sculptor, perhaps of the new generation of artists in Romania.

It's all over! Before we say goodbye to Picasso for good, I'd like to see another painter's opinion and a portrait of the great artist.

_{Vladimir Zamfirescu - Picasso

Oil on canvas - 2010}

Once we got to the roof we knew there was nothing more to see and took the elevator down...

... and we ended up right in the cafe. Couldn't be better!

I wrote above about ILRO, a Romanian graffiti artist. The drawing in the museum courtyard is by him.

Art is wonderful and very important in our lives... but so is coffee! Tired, but happy and still thinking about what they saw in the exhibition.

The cafe, view from inside and out(front-back), one last look before we say...

Goodbye, Picasso!

I hope I managed to show some of the atmosphere and beauty of this exhibition and museum. Thanks to those who read it.

If someone arrives in the area, i.e. in Bucharest, and is an art lover and, more than that, is eager to see some of Picasso's paintings up close, then a few forays are necessary.