Picasso for Dummies (Yep, you wanna read it!)

I do like to try my hand at lots of creative things, but when it comes to art I just couldn't be more clueless. Nevertheless, I do love going to art galleries and staring at the paintings. I never know what I'm looking at, but it excites and enthralls me all the same. So today, I decided to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario particularly to see the Picasso exhibit. And WOW, oh wow.... 

So, my dear friends, I have decided to tell you about Picasso through the eyes of an Art-Dummy. 

Ready? Okay, GO.

Celestina (The Woman With One Eye) (Barcelona, March 1904) 

I don't know what it is about this painting. It's not exactly pretty, but I kind of fell in love with it. It's from Picasso's Blue Period, 1901-1904. After this, he cheered up a little. He was inspired by theatre and circus, so he ditched the blue and grey tones for warmer pinks and browns- the Rose Period. :)

Violin (Paris, 1915)

Picasso experimented with 'cubism', which apparently is where you try to capture as many views of a 3D object into one image. I thought that was pretty cool. :)

The Acrobat (1930)

This guy is all limbs, and looks pretty rubbery. Picasso painted him to represent the recurring nightmares he had as a kid where his limbs would be stretched and shrunk repeatedly, and the same would happen to everyone around him. Cool, eh? I did not just say 'eh'. I am not becoming Canadian. 

Painting: The Kiss (Mougina, December 28 1969) 

I should be repulsed by the story, but anyhoo. This is of Picasso and his 2nd wife, Jacqueline Roque, who was 45 years his junior. Yuck. Picasso's buddy John Richardson said " Jacqueline had made up her mind fairly early on, I think, that she was going to sacrafice herself on the altar of his art. And sacrafice herself she did." Oh, and Jacqueline inspired more of his work than any other woman in his life. :) 

Pooh & Piglet (Toronto, circa 2010)

And this piece is not a Picasso original, but it also grabbed my attention today. Pooh Bear, you be so gangsta. 

That's all.