One hundred years ago, Pablo Picasso lived Rome for two months. It was his first trip to Italy. The Ballets Russes was in town and Picasso was eager to begin work on his designs for Parade, the ballet which would open on 18 May 1917 in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Two years previously, Picasso had found himself relatively alone in Paris. His mistress Eva Gouel had died … [Read more...]
Two quirky ballerinas strike a pose at the Frick Collection
Pablo Picasso is generally acknowledged to be the greatest draftsman of the twentieth century. The Frick Collection, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., have co-organized an exhibition for 2011–12 that will look at the dazzling development of Picasso's drawings, from the precocious academic exercises of his youth in the 1890s to the virtuoso classical … [Read more...]
Pablo Picasso
"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot; but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." … [Read more...]
Bacon’s “Crouching Nude” could fetch $15 million
A Francis Bacon masterpiece painted at the height of the British artist's impassioned affair with a former World War Two fighter pilot is expected to fetch up to 9 million pounds ($15 million) when it is auctioned for the first time in June at Sotheby's. Bacon's 1961 oil on canvas "Crouching Nude" is one of his large-scale paintings and is feted for its ominous, brooding … [Read more...]
When artistic disciplines collide, dance often takes a back seat.
Debra Craine in today's Times comments on the new collaboration between the National Gallery and the Royal Ballet: The idea of artists and choreographers collaborating isn’t new. Pablo Picasso worked with Léonide Massine and Robert Rauschenberg inspired Trisha Brown; Jasper Johns advised Merce Cunningham; Isamu Noguchi joined forces with Martha Graham; David Hockney designed … [Read more...]