Sunday, August 18, 2019

A Life of Picasso 1907-1917 by John Richardson




Another Schumann.  This one is dear to me because I played it for my Master's recital another life ago:  Kreisleriana Op. 16.  Johannes Kreisler was a character in E.T.A. Hoffman's absurdist stories.  He was a mad Kapellmeister (choral director).  The directions Schumann wrote is to start the work "playing as fast as you can".  By the end his directions are "play faster still".  It reminds me of the Red Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass.


"Well, in our country," said Alice, still panting a little, "you'd generally get to somewhere else—if you run very fast for a long time, as we've been doing."
"A slow sort of country!" said the Queen. "Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!


If you listen, you hear Kreisleriana galloping on his horse to church.  He gets there and directs a choir, real or imaginary, it is not known.  When he finishes, he jumps back onto his horse and "races off in all directions."







A Life of Picasso, Vol. 2: The Painter of Modern Life, 1907-1917A Life of Picasso, Vol. 2: The Painter of Modern Life, 1907-1917 by John  Richardson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book is the second of three volumes of the artist's life. The first one traced his early life and this one continues as Picasso becomes entrenched in the Parisian Bohemian world, surrounding himself with artists, poets, writers, and in the last chapters,the ballet.

These years largely concentrate around Picasso's cubist works and his relationship with other cubist artists, especially Braque.

We also learn about his tempestuous love affairs, leaving off one, another one dying, and yet others who abandon him.

This is also the Great War years, where many of his colleagues joined in the fight, while Picasso, belonging to a neutral country, stayed out. He also chose to stay out of Paris for most of the war years to avoid the humiliation of a woman handing him a white feather, which the ladies of Paris were offering to all the men who refused to go to the front.

This volume ends just as Picasso is becoming involved with Diaghilev's Ballet troupe, creating sets, collaborating with Eric Satie, whom he admired, and Jean Cocteau, whom he loathed.

We are just introduced to the ballerina Olga Khokhlova, whom Picasso will eventually marry, when the volume rather abruptly ends.


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A postcard I send out to people in my international postcard swap club.

7 comments:

Brian Joseph said...

That Schumann pice is impressive, I am listening to it as I type.

Picasso's works were also very impressive, I know so little about his life. These books sound very good. There is something particularly fascinating about the lives of artists.

Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi Brian. I agree. I feel by reading the biographies of artists, writers, etc..that their work is all that more meaningful to me. Have a good week!

James said...

I love Schumann and this is among my favorites.

The Picasso biography looks interesting. I have only read his biography by Pierre Daix.

Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi James! Glad to hear from a new face. Schumann is always my favorite and this one will always be dear to me.

I would like to read Daix's Biography just to get a different perspective. You sometimes wonder just a slanted one biographer's view is.

RTD said...

Once upon a time I played the clarinet and hoped to become a complete musician. Alas, too many notes confused and defeated me. How anyone masters left and right hands and foot on a piano is beyond my understanding. I tip my hat. You impress me.

Sharon Wilfong said...

Hi R.T. I didn't know you played the clarinet. That's great. I appreciate the compliment as well. Frankly, I impressed myself because I had a high school piano teacher that made crazy demands on me and he scared me into doing a lot of things I would not have believed myself capable of. I did not dare return to his studio without completing the work he assigned me.

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