October 25, 2008

Happy birthday Pablo!





#Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
#Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.
#Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
#There are only two types of women - goddesses and doormats.
#We don't grow older, we grow riper.


THESE are some famous quotes of a man called Pablo Picasso. One of the few artists to become a household name, Pablo Picasso was nothing if not prolific. The hundreds of thousands of works he created in his lifetime are scattered in many public and private collections throughout the world. But Picasso holds the record for the number of museums devoted solely to his oeuvre. Three (in Paris, Barcelona, and Málaga) are devoted solely to Picasso, and others dabble.

October 25 was his birthday – and I wanted to pen down a piece dedicating to a master with a difference. I visited his museum last year in Paris. Pablo’s museum is a very nice and intimate museum in the middle of a fashionable and typically Parisian district.

I was putting up at Hotel Ibis in Bastille. Though I been to Paris several times but I always missed paying a visit to the museum. This time I wanted to be there not because of Pablo’s great works but to feel the ambience of the place and how the museum came to fore. It was not because Pablo donated his masterpieces to Paris but some tax problems forced him to do so.

I was told famous painters have tax problems, and Pablo Picasso was no exception. To settle the taxes on his estate, the French government “inherited” a large number of his works upon his death in 1973. These paintings and sculpture form the core of Paris’ Picasso Museum, located in a large 17th century mansion –the Hotel Sale – in the popular Marais neighborhood. The ornate townhouse makes an interesting contrast to Picasso’s, largely abstract, paintings.

The Picasso Museum features over 3000 works by the artist and the collection is organized chronologically and the visitors can walk through the different periods in Picasso’s artistic development. Particularly noteworthy in the collection are “The Kiss,” a painting inspired by the painter’s marriage to Jacqueline Roque in 1961, his early (1901) self-portrait, and “The Two Brothers,” painted in Spain during the summer of 1906. In addition to works by Picasso, the museum includes a large number of works from Picasso's private art collection, including works by Degas, Cezanne, Matisse, and Seurat. The museum is a fascinating immersion into the work of one man and, no matter how one feels about Picasso’s work, is fascinating in its intense concentration on all phases of his art.

Among the many Picasso's paintings, you will find a 1901 self portrait and self portrait, the 1917 portrait of Olga in an armchair, the 1925 kiss, the 1931 woman in a red armchair (left) and the 1937 portrait of Dora Moor.

Paintings didn’t fascinate me much has I had already spent two days in the famous Louvre museum trying to decipher the meaning of hundreds of masterpiece paintings. The sculptors – the man, the woman and a pregnant woman made by wrought iron absorbed my attention.

In case you happen to be in Paris anytime – I would suggest please do visit this muse of Pablo. You won’t regret spending time here.

Visiting the Picasso Museum

Paris' Picasso Museum is open Wednesday to Monday year-round, except for January 1 and December 25. (The museum is closed on Tuesdays.) Summer (April – September) hours are 930am to 6pm. Winter hours are 930am to 530pm. Admission is 6.50 Euros for adults, 4.50 for students 18-25 years, and free for those under 18. The Museum is free to all on the first Sunday of each month. The museum has a gift shop that features prints, cards, and gifts inspired by Picasso as well as a small café.
The Picasso Museum is easily accessible by the Paris Metro system, via the Saint-Paul, Saint-Sebastien Froissart, and Chemin Vert stops.

Contact Information
Picasso Museum, Hotel Sale; 5 rue de Thorigny; 75003 Paris, France; Telephone: 01 42 71 25 21

Official site:
http://www.musee-picasso.fr/


Getting to the Picasso Museum in Paris is easy. If you’re using the Paris metro system, just get off at either Saint Paul Station or Chemin Vert Station. The Picasso Museum is within walking distance of both these stations, and the directions are signposted as soon as you get out of the station. If you’re taking a cab or riding a bus then the address of the Picasso Museum is 5 Rue de Thorigny. Buses that stop very close to the Picasso Museum are 29, 96, 69 and 75.

4 comments:

my poetry journal said...

good read!

Dinesh Akula said...

thanx buddy.

Dinesh Akula said...

thanx buddy.

Dr said...

Nice discription.One thing is very important to understand pablo,,that is how dilemma,struggle on both levels i.e.internal and external existance of human,logical strength,existentialism which denotes modernity and mordernism together expressed through fine arts......its a long discription..