Art History

Pablo Picasso is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century, for his long art career would influence a multitude of artists and a variety of artistic movements. Take a look at this website and browse the many different styles Picasso’s career encompassed:

http://www.picasso.com/picasso-prints.aspx

As was for Van Gogh, there are so many different ways to think about Picasso’s work. Some suggestive questions could be: How does his work change (or not change) over time (say from “Les Demoiselles D’Avignon” to “Guernica,” a 30-year expanse of time)? How could Picasso’s work be seen as the precursor to total abstraction? (Unbelievably, cubism is not “completely” abstract; something is still “represented,” though abstractly.) What does Picasso do with formal elements that are so radically different from what we have seen? Picasso gives us collage for the first time. How does his incorporation of found, everyday objects pasted on a canvas come to influence say a Warhol painting of soup cans? What do you see in the artwork, how does it make you feel, and do you like Picasso’s style? (You will need to think about which style in particular.)