Picasso Copy

Picasso Copy

6x6in oil on canvas board  $85.

Detail:   Bread, Fruit and Table.    1908.

This was painted one year after Picasso's breakthrough masterpiece, Les Demoiselles d' Avignon.
The influence can still be seen from his African/Tribal period although this piece was obviously painted during the early stage of his intellectual experiment with structure. (cubism)   After 1909, Picasso with Braque began a more systematic study of deconstruction which we know as Analylitical  Cubism. (1909)
Not one of my favorite art periods!
When I was painting this copy I was amazed to find the meticulous cross hatching and small gradations achieved by layering of slight color changes. I doubled checked by using a magnifying glass to make sure I was seeing correctly. In other parts of the same painting he used a more casual application of paint.

In 1980 I flew out to New York City specifically to see the retrospective of Picasso's work at MOMA and I still remember how blown away I was by the sheer power of not only his paintings but by the diverse methods he employed. This artist's work has never bored me. His 'Woman in White,' in the Metropolitan Museum, NY, is one of my all time favorites.