Art and Nature by Picasso

Picasso's views on Nature and Art

Picasso in "Picasso on Art, A Selection of Views" by Dore Ashton, stated "They speak of naturalism in opposition to modern art. I would like to know if anyone has ever seen a natural work of art. Nature and art being two different things, cannot be the same thing. Through art we express our conception of what nature is not." ( De Zayas, 1923)

In another opinion on nature Picasso compares art and nature in previous eras.

" Nature is one thing and painting is quite another. Painting is the equivalent of nature. We must thank the painters for the image we have of nature. We perceive it through their eyes. Generally speaking, we stick to to the reproduction which the classical painters gave us, like the painters of the seventeenth century, Poussin. The image they gave is accepted as the true nature, because their syntax is well established. But we have no assurance that this image is truer than other images created in other epochs. Actually it isn't anything more than a question of signs. It has been agreed upon that a specific sign represents a tree, another a house, a man, a woman; exactly as in a language the word 'man' evokes the image of a man, the word 'house' a house and this in all languages although in every language the word varies. It's an established convention by the use of these signs" (Warnod 1945)

What are your views on nature and modern art?

Intuitive abstract collage art

This abstract collage is an intuitively linked combination of ink drawings, prints, brown wrapping paper, pastel and charcoal lines, on an acrylic painted background. On a bleaky morning, I assembled a number of random samples in a folder, with the thought of creating a collage of these pieces.

Collage was developed by Picasso and his friend Georges Braque to show art in a radically new way. This was an attempt to break the tradition of the paint brush dipped in oil paint, depicting something representational. That was the practice at the turn of the century. At some point, having gained fame as an artist using the classical techniques of that era, Picasso started experimenting and collaborated with his friend Georges.

Picasso, always seeking new ways to express himself, started using bits of newspapers, wallpaper and odds and ends around the studio. The more mundane the better. It was meant to shock the traditionalists. And it worked. There was outright condemnation by the art dealers of that time. Many felt Picasso could have made a comfortable living, rehashing the accepted styles of that era. Thankfully, Picasso rejected the conventional wisdom and created a new form of art. Thus opening the door, giving confidence to many other artists who came after him.

To view more abstract paintings, collages, drawings, digital experiments, and prints visit:
http://www.yessy.com/emooyoung/gallery.html

How to explain the power of abstract art

Pablo Picasso in describing his art once said " The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape"...

Abstract art can incorporate all these diverse sources and produce an original artwork that explodes with color, excites the imagination, angers some skeptics, dismissed by traditionalists, but exists for its own sake. Contemporary abstract, modern art can open galaxies of new thought. Be critical of government and their policies, shame institutions that despoil the planet, depict man's brutality to man without representational images. Abstract art can also shock and anger individuals who disagree with the artists methods. Outrage others with their prices- $100,000,000 (diamond encrusted skulls) or bring delight to children. Art, skilfully employed, can soothe tired minds, drive men to war, sometimes a bidding war, across continents.

Do you have any thoughts on the power and potential of abstract art? How it could be used to move humanity to share and end poverty and disease? Have you visited the Rothko Chapel in Houston and felt the power, the silence, the awe? Yet, to reduce it to fundamentals, only paint was used in the most basic and abstract manner. But the calm that is felt is indescribable. Comparable only to Monet's 'Water Lilies' room at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.