"Picasso Black and White is the first exhibition to explore the remarkable use of black and white throughout the Spanish artist’s prolific career. Claiming that color weakens, Pablo Picasso purged it from his work in order to highlight the formal structure and autonomy of form inherent in his art. His repeated minimal palette correlates to his obsessive interest in line and form, drawing, and monochromatic and tonal values, while developing a complex language of pictorial and sculptural signs. The recurrent motif of black, white, and gray is evident in his Blue and Rose periods, pioneering investigations into Cubism, neoclassical figurative paintings, and retorts to Surrealism. Even in his later works that depict the atrocities of war, allegorical still lifes, vivid interpretations of art-historical masterpieces, and his sensual canvases created during his twilight years, he continued to apply a reduction of color."
I just returned from this exhibit at the Guggenheim
guggenheim.org which ends on January 23. This is a very extensive show encompassing almost the entire museum. Picasso's output was remarkable and it was especially interesting to see his work in a monochromatic palette. One could focus on his use of line and form and see the clear progressions of his work from his early blue period to the cubist and finally to his late works. By focussing on these elements I was able to understand his great strength and brilliance as an artist. I totally recommend this exhibit.
My homage to Picasso in color:
