Picasso & Dylan.
Mr Jinx
Last night on the BBC here in England there was a one hour programme on
Picasso.
Simon Schama on Picasso:
"Pablo Picasso's Guernica is so familiar, so large, so present. It's
physically bigger than a movie screen. But what is the painting about?
Is it an account of the Spanish town obliterated by Nazi warplanes - a
piece of reportage? Is that why it's in black and white?
This is the reason why the painting has such an impact. Instead of a
laboured literal commentary on German warplanes, Basque civilians and
incendiary bombs, Picasso connects with our worst nightmares. He's
saying here's where the world's horror comes from; the dark pit of our
psyche."
Picasso's vast impact and his multi-faceted approach could not help but
call to mind Dylan (a Tangled Up In Blue period, if you will).
The programme itself was frustrating. Simon Schama is a historian and
his real interest in Picasso was political. He more or less suggested
that Guernica was his defining statement and that his other work was
rather beside the point. It reminded me of the way that certain
commentators (Billy Bragg springs to mind) view Dylan through a purely
political prism. They are comfortable when Dylan is (seemingly)
protesting politically but less comfortable with the personal aspects
of his work.
In Guernica Picasso has included not just the horrors of the Nazi
strike but also stigmata, candlelight and representations of his women.
These redemptive and personal aspects once more remind me of Dylan.
Some artists are just not going to fit into a box, nor are they going
to paint a straightforward canvas on one topic.
Cubism is all about impossible perspectives. Pity then that Schama
used only one when considering Picasso's art.
Mr Jinx
Dan Luke
"Mr Jinx" wrote:
>
> Picasso's vast impact and his multi-faceted approach could not help but
> call to mind Dylan (a Tangled Up In Blue period, if you will).
Bingo.
Picasso & Dylan have always been connected in my mind. _Blonde on Blonde_
is the most Picasso-like of Dylan's albums, to me; particularly "Visions of
Johanna."
--
Dan
"Fiction was invented the day Jonah arrived home and told his wife
that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a
whale." -Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Just Walkin'
Simon Schama is usually pretty good. His The Embarassment of Riches is
the best book I have ever read about the Dutch and Landscape and Memory
tells how geography impacts our consciousness. Truly comprehensive
stuff.
I haven't seen the programme (I guess that's what they're called over
there on the isles) you mention but I am willing to bet that Schama is
saying that the Guernica is a defining work because it is one where
Picasso used all of his talents to communicate a message which was at
once timely and timeless, forever distinguishing his genre from the
"l'art pour l'art" movement of the day. Hence in this way we can see
how Picasso was the era's Dylan while guys like Georg Grosz may have
been the the era's Ochs (or Bragg.) These days, Grosz is not so much
known for his impact on art as he is for his use of art in commentary.
Ole' Pablo's art has been become synonymous with his commentary,
triggering an emotional response by presenting impossible perspectives.
Though Bob (admittedly) didn't learn to (consciously) paint with words
until later in his career, his Guernica came much earlier. Masters of
War? Desolation Row? Which one would you say exemplifies Bob's art and
meaning in a timely and timeless way the way this work of art did?