Pablo Picasso's incorruptible desire to constantly reinvent his art, to take it beyond the limits of his time, was materialized not only in his spirit of rupture and innovation, but also in his desire to devour and reinterpret the works of the past. Picasso's Discourse: The Sacred and the Profane studies the artist's audacity and originality in approaching both the classical world and the themes of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and reveals his ability to integrate elements and problems of earlier art into his own work and to reflect on the ultimate essence of painting. Traumatic and existential at times, vitalist and hopeful at others, Picasso looks at the art of the past and reveals new ways of interpreting history and, with his clairvoyance, continues to give us fundamental keys to the uncertain contemporary world.
This book is an account of an exhibition with this focus, presented at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza and including thirty works. The Picasso works belonging to the Museum and several loans from the Musée national Picasso Paris and from other collectors and institutions dialogue with paintings by El Greco, Rubens, Zurbarán, Van der Hamen, Delacroix, a sculpture by Pedro de Mena and engravings by Goya. A first section reveals how Picasso assimilated the tradition of portraiture and religious imagery and transformed it into a whole repertoire of promiscuous and profane characters. The second brings us closer to the most intimate and domestic matters with still lifes and maternity. And a third part contrasts the traditional theme of the Passion with scenes of violence or sacrifice, in the crucifixions, bullfights, or in Picasso's dramatic women of the 1930s.
ISBN: 9788417173777
Spanish, with appendix of texts in English
Dimensions: 16 x 23 cm
136 pages
Hardcover binding with glued chrome and stamping.
