“Woman With Mauve Hat”, 1939
“Bust of a Faun”, 1946
Bonjour, Picasso is not a blockbuster exhibit. There are 3 small paintings and a handful of drawings in a room mostly full of photos of Picasso and his studio. But the paintings, especially the two posted above, are a nice reminder of what a great colorist Picasso was, and how much more there is to his work than the personality, the fame, the stylistic shifts and liberties he took with “proper drawing”. The show is worth noting for the small surprises it offers and the fact that it makes it easy to look slowly and look for nuance.
Live in KC and didn’t see the show, however, I disagree. Picasso was not a great colorist. In fact, there is a current show of his work where he rejects the use of color. Picasso was an extraordinary draftsman; “Bust of a Fawn” is a great example of his extraordinary definition of form. He was also extraordinary at contrast, especially the contrasts of grays, of warm and cool grays. And that, is quite enough to deem some of Picasso’s work as extraordinary.