Friday, January 14, 2011

Now We are Delivered from
the Imbecile Tyranny of Genres

.
Pablo Picasso, Guitar and Bottle of Bass, 1913

This is the last weekend to see the Seattle Art Museum's massive Picasso show, and the museum is staying open till midnight every day through Monday. If you haven't gone and have a chance, I'd recommend checking it out. With so many lesser-known works on display, the exhibition offered perspectives on Picasso I hadn't seen or thought about. I loved the etchings and other black and white works, and many of the paintings. The videos were really cool. I especially enjoyed the sculpture, and there's a lot of it. I was probably most excited by this quote, a reaction to his groundbreaking 1913 still-life Guitar and Bottle of Bass:

"Now we are delivered from the imbecile tyranny of genres." –Art critic André Salmon

I still have to say that I like Picasso more in theory than in practice – I like the ideas but I don't really connect with the work much of the time – but I'm glad I got to see the show and I think it's possible I will have a Picasso revelation at some point. Sometimes it's like that, it takes going back to something many times before you really figure it out.

If you haven't seen the show, or want to see it again, you can get info and tickets at seattleartmuseum.org. [And if you want my recommendation – really, why wouldn't you – I'd suggest going on the later side and getting venison at Lecōsho afterward.]

No comments: