Erotica. Selected Etchings. Of all of artist's erotic adventures in various media, the etchings are his most important body of work. The range of emotion and sensation is tremendous, communicated not merely through narrative imagery but more fundamentally in lines, textures and compositions that embrace the lust, delicacy, pathos and humor of unabridged human sexuality.
Erotica. Selected Etchings
Throughout his life, from early youth through old age, Picasso's two great
passions were woman and art, and these came together in his erotic works.
The most famous of these is his monumentally important painting of 1907, Les
Demoiselles d'Avignon, which is viewed by art historians as the prototypical
modern painting. This seminal work is perhaps the most prized painting in
the entire collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
But, of all of Picasso's multitudinous erotic adventures in various media,
the etchings are by far his most important body of work. They are not merely
numerous, rather each is highly charged with the unbridled life force that
infused all of his best works, erotic and otherwise. The range of emotion
and sensation is tremendous, communicated not merely through narrative
imagery but more fundamentally in lines, textures and compositions that
embrace the lust, delicacy, pathos and humor of unabridged human sexuality.
While Picasso's interest in Eros may have exceeded that of many of his
contemporaries, one cannot dismiss the relevance of the subject with respect
to then contemporary socio-cultural issues. With regard to psychology, the
first half of the 20th century was dominated by the Freudians, with much
emphasis given to the far reaching role of sexuality in shaping emotion and
behavior. This occurred in concert with the birth of modern anthropology
which showcased surviving tribal cultures, particularly their naturalism
inclusive of nudity and the ritualized adulation of fertility. This stood in
stark contrast to the culture of the work ethic which had come to dominate
Western industrial civilization, just as the trappings of academic art had
threatened to suppress more vital and relevant modes of expression.
The American art scene is viewed as notoriously puritanical by most arts
professionals, here and abroad. A major exhibition of Picasso erotica was
organized for 2001 by the Picasso Museum, Paris. Some 5000 people attended
the opening at the Jeu de Paume. The show traveled to the Montreal Museum of
Fine Arts whose Director, Guy Cogeval, stated, "My American colleagues said
they'd love to do a show like this, but they can't with their boards of
trustees." (As quoted in Forbes Magazine, 2/28/01.) Leslie Sacks Fine Art,
being a privately owned gallery without a board of trustees and government
funding, does not have to deal with curatorial politics and is pleased to
present, Picasso: Erotica.
Image: Pablo Picasso, "Deux Femmes Batifolant sur un Matelas de Plage",
1968, etching, 7.8 x 12.8 inches, edition of 50 from the 347 Series.
Leslie Sacks Fine Art
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