“I would like to know if anyone has ever seen a natural work of art…Through art we express our conception of what nature is not…from the painters of the origins, the primitives, whose work is obviously different from nature, down to those artists who, like David, Ingres, and even Bouguereau, believed in painting nature as it is, art has always been art and not nature…Cubism is no different from any other school of painting.”–Picasso in “Picasso Speaks” from Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas
Picasso defends his school of painting by
describing art, in all forms, as contrary to nature. He references “the
primitives” in the quote above to enhance his argument that Cubism is not
revolutionary in painting “what nature is not.” From this I see a tie between
Picasso and the primitive— by stating that art, from the beginning, has been
anything but natural, he suggests that primitive influence has outlasted time
and continues to guide painters, such as himself, in modern times. He shares
common ground with the primitive, and perhaps it is for that reason that he
reaches back to it in his creations.
This is a great quote to describe Picasso's approach to painting. When Picasso says, "Through art we express what nature is not...believed in painting nature as ti is, art has always been art and not nature..." he is drawing attention to his belief that a painting should look like a painting. A painting is not a literal representation of nature and I like this quote because it clearly states that art and nature are separate entities. Melanie makes a great connection between Picasso's use of the primitive and the continuous influence of Cubism. Picasso suggests that Cubism is nothing new or unique, "no different from any other school of painting".
ReplyDelete-Dana Rich
I really like this quote as well, but I wish there was more analysis. Perhaps you might want to include a definition of "the primitive" and give some examples as an introduction to this quote?
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Picasso thought Cubism was not nothing new. What he meant was probably that artists always have found different ways of representing "nature" through different means and styles. I like that Picasso pointed out that even primitive art is not more natural than contemporary art, only because it might be old and might seem 'simple' it is not more true than any other art. I agree with Melanie, that primitive influence has outlasted time and inspired many painters to return to looking at things from a different point-of-view again. And that copying nature as close to reality as possible is not the only way of making art.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this is a great Picasso quote! The fact that Picasso is criticizing an elitist point of view towards art carries some important weight, considering Picasso's influence through art as a whole. I think its important that he basically makes it a point to say that art should not operate on a hierarchical scale because all art is essentially trying to convey the same idea through many different forms from many different perspectives. I really like the overall presentation of the blog, although it'd be awesome to match up all the text formats so it could flow real consistently and smoothly.
ReplyDelete