Product Description
In the second volume of his definitive biography of Pablo Picasso, John Richardson draws on the same combination of lively writing, critical astuteness, exhaustive research and personal experience that made a bestseller out of the first volume and vividly re-creates the artist's life and work during the crucial decade of 1907-1917--a period during which Picasso and Georges Braque invented cubism and to that extent engendered modernism. Thanks to his friendship with Picasso and his family, mistresses, friends, dealers and other associates, Richardson has had unique access to untapped sources and unpublished material. By harnessing biography to art history, he has managed to crack the code of cubism more successfully than any of his predecessors. And by bringing fresh light to bear on the artist's too often sensationalized private life, he has succeeded in coming up with a totally new view of this paradoxical man and of his paradoxical work. Never before has Picasso's prodigious technique, his incisive vision and, not least, his sardonic humor been analyzed with such clarity.

Richardson reveals that the young Picasso saw himself in the Baudelairean role of "the painter of modern life"--a role that stipulated the brothel as the noblest subject for a modern artist. Hence his great innovative painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, with which this book opens. As well as portraying Picasso as a revolutionary, the author analyzes the more compassionate side of his genius. The misogynist of posthumous legend turns out to have been surprisingly vulnerable--more often sinned against than sinning. Heartbroken at the death of his mistress Eva, the artist tried desperately to find a wife. Richardson recounts the untold story of how his two great loves of 1915-1917 successively turned him down; and how these disappointments, as well as his horror at the outbreak of World War I and the wounds it inflicted on his closest friends, Braque and Apollinaire, shadowed his painting and drove him off to Rome--back to the ancient world.

For Picasso, art would always have a magic function. As Richardson reveals, the artist saw himself as a shaman who could use his art to cast spells, both good and bad, and play all manner of ingenious and sardonic games. This greatest of modern artists knew better than anyone how to outrage us, also how to fascinate, puzzle and disturb us. Above all, he makes us perceive reality afresh by re-energizing our minds as well as our eyes.Amazon.com Review
This second volume in Richardson's exhaustive and intense biographyof the twentieth century's greatest artist covers the ten years from 1907,where volume one ended its epic story of youthful Bohemian struggle. Picasso was then 26;the decade covered here displays a journey to adulthood through astonishingartistic innovation, a growing renown, and the artist's turbulent sexualrelations. Richardson details Picasso's public career, including the impactof Cubism, and his complex personal life, notably the artist's passionate andcallous treatment of his wives and mistresses ("deification followed bya degrading process of psychosexual dissection"). Through perceptiveanalysis of Picasso's paintings, Richardson also offers a deep understandingof the inner demons that shaped his remarkable outer life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Studios, Painting Locales, Poets, Lovers, Collectors, Competitors, War, and Picasso
Of the three volumes of A Life of Picasso that have been completed, I liked The Cubist Rebel, 1907-1916 best. John Richardson moves his focus around to see Picasso's life from many angles, much like a Cubist painting deconstructs reality into two dimensions representing all sides. There is fine balance in his portrayal so that no element gets out of proportion.

The scholarship involved with showing the connections between Picasso's lovers and his art during those years is most interesting, filled with many details I had not run across before. I was also pleased to be better informed about Picasso's relationship with other Cubist artists of the era.

In other histories and biographies that cover this part of Picasso's life, I'm always a little puzzled about the role of Apollinaire, but in this book the man comes into reasonably clear focus.

Many of the references to places where Picasso had his studios come into sharper focus as well in this book which describes and portrays those places quite well.

Surprisingly, the weakest part of the book comes in its discussion of Picasso's Cubism per se which gets surprisingly short shift after he shifted into synthetic Cubism. I expected a lengthy description of the developments in that work. There are some very fine discussions of individual major works, but the overall subject drifts away into nothingness. Hmmm.

I found the book's details constantly fascinating in explaining the gaps between what happened in those days and how matters shifted. Since few Americans were major collectors of Picasso in the early days (the Steins being a happy exception), how did all those works end up in the United States?If Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is one of the great works of the 20th century, why did it have so much trouble finding the right home? John Richardson shares our natural curiosity and is happy to satisfy that curiosity.

As with the other works in the series, it is a disappointment that none of the reproductions are in color. But with the Cubist period, color is less important so the loss is less significant in this volume.

Bravo!

The Best Picasso
I've read several books on Picasso and this is easily the best. I think that's because it focuses on a specific finite period of 10 years. I wish the other books had taken this tact.

If you're a fan of Pablo's, or a lover of fine art, this is a must read.

Richardson Deserves Praise
This is the best biography I have ever read. It was absolutely brilliant. If you have ever wondered what it was like to live in Paris in the early twentieth century, as an emerging artist (what a cool daydream, right?) this is the book for you. All of those tales of Hemingway and Fitzgerald on the French Riviera, the women, the cafes; Richardson captures it here: the life of an artist realizing his potential as an artist -- it is truly amazing. His explanations accompanying each painting, the way they came to fruition, the stories behind the early masterworks, the market (Les Demoiselles [i.e., the 'most studied painting of the 20th Century' Richardson opines, and arguably the first cubist painting, so upset Picasso and unsettled his friends that he kept it virtually hidden for a decade [this was a young Picasso before his artwork {and ego} commanded millions] and it was touching to read and see this side of young Pablo). Sure, recent trends have tended to treat Picasso with great disdain, and while this IS only a biography, it is the most incisive biography into one of the most celebrated creative minds of the twentieth century that I have ever read. Honestly. The biography itself is an intense revelation -- thoroughly, exhaustively researched and written, and a credit to John Richardson as a human being, a researcher, and a biographical author -- an artist in his own right.

A Perfect Biography
I agree largely with the other review. One of the things worth mentioning is that this book is also one of the best descriptions of cultural life in France in the first and second decades of the 20 th century I have ever read. You meet people like Appolinaire, Gide, Max Jacob, Kahnweiler,Vollard, Gris, Matisse and Bracque and begin to understand the particular,immensely productive environment of pre-war France. It was also of hugeinterest to read about the real friendship between Bracque and Picasso andhow this lead to such wonderful, very similar pictures like "LePortugais" (Bracque) and "Man with Mandolin" (Picasso). Ilook forward indeed to the next volume and aim to read the first oneimmediately.

I inhaled the book
Please allow me to gush.I usually labor through biographies, but the two Richardson volumes are so well written and thoroughly researched that I was done before I knew it.The illustrations are black and white, but it waslittle trouble to go to my Picasso catalogs to see the things in color. Iwas quite disappointed when I was through with each volume.I enjoyed thesecond even though I'm not thrilled with Cubism.I can hardly wait for thethird volume.I'm also interested in Richardson himself showing up in thebiography.At the risk of sounding morbid, I pray to God John Richardsonis in good health.I'm looking forward to the volumes dealing with Picassoin the 1920's and 1950's. ... Read more

Book Description
These handsome volumes of postcards feature the artworks of the great modern masters, reproduced in brilliant full color. The cards are detachable and can be used to send messages to friends or as informal decoration for the home or office. Easily stored, they can also serve as inexpensive guides to some of the masterpieces of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. ... Read more

Product Description
For years Pablo Picasso's sculptural oeuvre was one of the best-kept secrets of 20th century art. It was only through retrospectives in Paris, London and New York during the 1960's that Picasso the sculptor became known to a larger public-who discovered a complexity and variety in his sculptures that easily rivals that of his paintings and drawings. Pablo Picasso: The Sculptures is catalogue raisonn of Picasso's sculptures, a seminal work informed by conversations between the author, Picasso specialist Werner Spies, and Picasso himself. The present edition has been thoroughly revised and now includes numerous color illustrations of important pieces. In all this volume features over 740 works by the artist, ranging from miniature paper figures to constructions from metal, wood, and found objects, from folding sculptures made from tin to massive, at times monumental works. A definitive statement on Picasso's sculptural oeuvre, this book provides a key to understanding and appreciating works that, in their ingenuity and their inventiveness, still provide an inexhaustible source of inspiration for today's artists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous Images!
Page after Page of beautifully photographed colour images.It's eye candy for the Picasso fan really. Can't get enough of his work.Many of these works are not shown in your average "Picasso and his work" type book. It's a thorough and grounded collection of his sculpture with many stories and anecdotes on the work.
Very interesting and wonderful for research or a collector. A very heavy and big book, not only looks good on the coffee table but is gorgeous to go through slowly, page after beautiful page!
A must for every contemporary sculptor or Picasso fan! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Why Did Penguin Ever Let This Series go Out of Print?
A beautiful work and an incredible resource.

"Each volume presents the complete paintings of the artist and includes an introduction by a distinguished art historian, critical comments on the painter from his own time to the present day, 64 pages of full-color plates, a chronological survey of his life and work, a basic bibliography, and a fully illustrated and annotated catalogue raisonne."

Large format trade paperback, 118 pp, over 60 color plates.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
An Outline of the Artist's Crucial History
Catalogue: Exhibitions, Bibliography, Outline Bibliography, Catalogue of Works (small b&w illustrations.) ... Read more

Product Description
Arguably the most important artist of the twentieth century, Pablo Picasso has been the object of innumerable exhibitions and publications. This absorbing book draws upon new research and works that, in some cases, were held out of public view in Picasso's own collection to explore the critically important--but still under-studied--period of his life from the time of the Spanish Civil War through World War II and the Nazi occupation of France. This span of years is marked by some of the most intensely personal and expressive work of his long and diverse career. By the 1930s Picasso stood secure in his preeminence, a symbol of modernism and a model of inventiveness and self-renewal. The darkening political situation in Europe, however, began to intrude into his world of creativity, and by 1935 new themes of unrest were emerging in his work. With the outbreak of the civil war in Spain, political crisis became personal crisis, and the formerly autobiographical, even hermetic outlook in Picasso's art expanded to embrace a new political and social consciousness. During this period of his life, the subjects he painted changed dramatically in direct response first to the horrors of war and then to the dangers and privations of life in occupied Paris, where he chose to remain until the Liberation. While it is true, as Picasso himself stated, that he did not directly paint the events of war, except perhaps in the powerful mural Guernica, their presence is felt as a steady and oppressive theme through the use of personalized signs and symbols and a distinctive stylistic language. It is a dark and moving pictorial record that finds parallels in depth of feeling and visual impact only in the war-related imagery of Picasso's great Spanish forerunner Francisco de Goya. Through his own inward voyage, Picasso created a portrait of an era, witnessed firsthand from the position of a foreign "degenerate" artist living under Nazi surveillance. The book traces Picasso's responses to the cataclysm of war as manifested in a lengthy series of figure paintings, still lifes, portraits, and cityscapes, amplified by photographs, letters, manuscripts, and illustrated books by the artist, drawn from collections all around the world. At a time when many artists internationally are looking for languages to express social and political criticism, it is more instructive than ever to consider the give-and-take between art and history in Picasso's work. With contributions by: Brigitte Baer, Michle Cone, Michael FitzGerald, Lydia Csat Gasman, Robert Rosenblum, Gertje Utley. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Amazing Catalog of an Amazing Exhibit
I saw this exhibit when it came to San Francisco's Palace of the Legion of Honor, and saw fit to buy the catalog two years later, it madde such an impact.

This is not a collection of Picasso's best or most famous work. Rather it collects unknown and semi-distinguished pieces all produced during the political upheaval of WWII. As such it tells the story of the occcupation of France through the perceptions of one artist who survived it, and transformed the experience for the world to see through his art.

While it gathers some curiosities, like developmental sketchs for the classic Guernica, the real star of this exhibit are lesser known classics like Night Fishing at Antibes.

Don't buy this for a general introduction to Picasso's art. Think of it as a kind of emotional history in pictures.

A brilliant chronicle of an astonishing exhibition!
"Picasso and the War Years" surveys his art during his years of isolation in Occupied Paris, as well as the three years leading up to the cataclysm.Although several exhibitions have been held on this samesubject in Europe, this is the first such survey of Picasso's wartimeproduction to take place in the United States.A series of outstandingessays by several prominent critics explore the complex political, social,and personal circumstances which inspired these still-challengingpaintings, and the initial reactions to them.A warning: this book is notfor everyone.If you are disturbed by violent and harsh art, forget it. These images still retain their power to shock, disorient, disgust andsadden, even if sixty years have gone by since their creation.Yet all thepictures possess a deep geometric structure, formal balance, and intenseaffect which engraves them on the viewer's mind.The sorrowful, neurotic,and unforgettable face of Dora Maar, Picasso's mistress and model duringthese tragic years, is transformed in these paintings into a symbol of aworld gone mad. This is definitely one of the most significant art booksproduced this year. ... Read more

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Product Description
In this original and insightful book Christopher Green develops an account of difference a as a theme in Picasso's work. Focusing not so much on biographical information as on the works themselves and the meanings they could have in their cultural and social contexts, Green discusses the origins and character of Picasso' sources and influences and, by extension, the sources and influences that shaped much of the visual heritage of the twentieth century.

Green addresses the issue of regression and the uncivlized in Picasso's art from different angles, taking the artist's work from 1907 to the 1930s as a central thread.The author considers Picasso's work in its own right and in relations to two artists to whom he responded - Rousseauand Miro - and an architect-artist who responded to him, Le Corbusier. The result is a book that enriches both art history and our understanding of Picasso's inventiveness and success. ... Read more

Product Description
Between 1924 and 1934, Picasso's oeuvre developed dramatically. During this decade, the artist maintained a complex relationship with the burgeoning and hugely influential Surrealist movement. Eventually, he diverted from Surrealism to form a variant known as Supra-realism. This volume presents an integrated analysis of the whole of Picasso's artistic creation during the Surrealist period. Thematic texts reveal the extraordinary wealth of Picasso's work during this time. It begins with a study of his research on theater and ballet from 1914-23 and subsequently examines Picasso's work in painting, sculpture, and works on paper. This comprehensive account concludes with a study of the body of Picasso's work from 1935-40. These formative years, during which civil war raged in Picasso's native Spain, laid the groundwork for the increasingly political content of his later works. A detailed, fully illustrated chronology at the end of the book places this crucial period in its full intellectual and historical context. ... Read more

Product Description
The extent to which photography influenced the work of Pablo Picasso is now considered by scholars to be of great importance in the understanding of the artist's entire oeuvre. Linked to a major exhibition, this beautifully illustrated books present a unique view into Picasso's relationship with the photographic arts. The presence in his personal estate of several thousand photographic images, donated to the French government upon his death, prompted this study and bears powerful witness to the artist's versatility and imaginative depth. The collection featured here includes nineteenth-century portraits, postcards featuring colonial themes or ethnic groups in regional dress, as well as portraits, self-portraits and studio views taken by Picasso himself. Already at the turn of the century, they contributed to the artist's figurative expression as well as to his major cubist interpretations.

The artist commanded a wealth of themes, styles, and media over his long and productive career, and he explored drawing, painting, and sculpture. His voracious appetite for experimentation led him to push the medium to unorthodox extremes, both stylistically and technically. The range of Picasso's photographic production comprises a variety of forms and techniques and resulted in independent works of art: superimposed photographs, cliché-verres, photo-based engravings, photograms and original drawings on photographs, slides, collages, and photographic cutouts. His collaborations with other artists such as Dora Maar, Brassaï,Gjon Mili, and André Villers reveal a playful inventiveness, and demonstrate his ability to push photography in unexpected directions. The works featured in this study provide new insight into Picasso's creative world. An outstanding text by Anne Baldassari makes a major contribution to Picasso scholarship by examining what could be the last unknown area of the artist's work.
... Read more

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A comprehensive study of Picasso, his life and his classic works of art. As Picasso's friend for 25 years, Pierre Daix's knowledge of Picasso as a man and as an artist enables him to share personal insights into how the events and personalities of his life influenced his art. ... Read more

Product Description
Tells the story of Pablo Picasso as he grows through his early days as an artist, his discovery of cubism, and his later years of sculpture and painting to become a famous artist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

405 drawings by Picasso in his 80's
This is a collection of 405 drawings - mosting pencil, with some ink and wash - done by Picasso in his 80's. The reproductions vary in size, from 1 to about 3 or 4 images per page. Maybe not his best work, but fun to look at, and more evidence of Picasso's life-long energy and imagination. ... Read more

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Catalogue Raisonne of 156 books, albums and catalogues illustrated by Picasso ... Read more

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In this lucid biography, Beardsley shows how Picasso began his artistic life before the age of ten with an astonishing facility for realisitc drawing and went on to create abstract paintings, drawings, and sculptures that changed the face of art in this century. Developed especially for young readers. 50 illustrations, 32 in full color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very abstract
This book contains many ink drawings by picasso. The drawings are not very detailed and very abstract. They mostly show a model standing in front of picasso while he is drawing. Very little detail is present. If you like picasso's abstract work and want to see more, this book is ok. Not great, but ok. ... Read more