Picasso: Art as a "Weapon."

Pablo Picasso once described painting as, "not made to decorate houses." Instead, the artist described it as "an instrument of offensive and defensive war against the enemy." Picasso, despite his paintings appearing to be quite unoffensive, enjoyable pieces, actually intended for his work to help with the progression of Communism and anti-Fascism, of which he was an active supporter.

One of his most famous pieces of course, being Guernica. Guernica is a highly descriptive and moving image depicting the Spanish Civil War, and is one of the many paintings that Picasso completed to portray his disgust for Fascism. Despite the apparent lack of politics and personal belief in much of his work - (particularly his earlier stuff - his still lifes, portraits and other ordinary-object paintings) - it is actually quite apparent throughout Picasso's career.

His Charnel House, painted in 1944-45, shows a murdered family, thrown under their kitchen table. There are definite links to Goya's "Disasters of War" and Charnel House. The black, white and grey shades that Picasso uses in his more serious works, such as Guernica and Charnel House, show the gloom and morbidity of war, Fascism and, ultimately, living in a world that does not fit in with your systems of belief.

"Modern Masters" - Henri Matisse.

Just finished watching the 'Henri Matisse' episode of the BBC's new "Modern Masters" series. The picture I have attached to this post is Matisse's Piano Lesson, which I have never really taken much notice of before, but have now very swiftly changed my mind! The image depicts the artist's son, Pierre, having his piano lesson. Pierre supposedly despised these piano lessons, and this becomes very obvious once you analyse the image. The shape in the top right hand corner of the piece can be identified as Pierre's piano instructor; she hovers above him in a very dominating, strict and almost threatening manner. Her appearance away from the main content of the painting further shows Pierre's disregard for his teacher. Her feet are shown as raised way above Pierre's head; a clear teacher - pupil divide. The sharp angles of the metronome sitting directly in the eye line of the student further lead us to believe that Pierre was in fact daunted by these lessons, and possibly music itself.

The colours Matisse used in the painting are not those usually associated with his work at around this time; the time of the First World War. There is a vast expanse of grey tone right across the picture, possibly showing the morbidity of the time. Pierre is shown as much younger than he actually would have been at the time the painting was created, which seems to portray the young age that men were when they went to fight. At the time of painting the image, Pierre was in fact at war, and Matisse was obviously unsure when or if, he would return. The painting, then, almost has a nostalgic, wistful feel to it.

Overall, after reconnecting with this image, after a long time of disregarding it as not one of Matisse's greatest works (after all, on looking at the image without prior background knowledge, it might be difficult to decipher this as a Matisse image; aside, perhaps, from the decoration adorning the piano and the railings), I have readjusted my stance. The picture is completely harmonious, and with its underlying symbolic ideas, twisted in with a bit of Cubist influence, the outcome becomes a piece which highlights Matisse's nostalgia, and possible worry about his son's fortune at a time when no one was really sure what the future held.

References: http://smarthistory.org/matisse-piano-lesson.html

Krikey! Kentemporary Prints!

For a module at Uni, I have been working as part of a team to create an exhibition about prints from scratch. From deciding upon the theme, to the hanging of the exhibition. We decided to create an exhibition based on contemporary artists from the Kent area, as we thought this would rouse the most interest from people in the local area; particularly school students and local residents.

Today was the dress rehearsal hang for the exhibition, and I am very excited about how its starting to look! We have some really stunning and interesting prints in the exhibition, from more pop-arty works by Peter Blake to much darker works by Ana Maria Pacheco. The exhibition includes prints that with very 'now' subject matters - from global warming to globalisatison.

The final hang is tomorrow, and the exhibition officially opens on Monday - exciting times!