Although I started in the wrong direction, this time around the GPS on my telephone did put me right fast - all I had to do was cross the road and a few blocks down, there was the Gaumont centre of Art. Although I have certainly been here, it did not seem to be very familiar. But the artists’ names certainly were. Botero and Picasso. Here was the page I had seen in Paris.
Pierrette reminded me that there had been a huge exhibition of Botero’s sculptures on the Champs Elysées. I looked up to see when - 1992. Unbelievable!
Despite very different origins, lives, and careers, the two artists share common geographical and cultural points of reference. In his youth, Fernando Botero (born in 1932 in Colombia)) took an interest in the work of Pablo Picasso (1881–1973 - Spanish). He admired his rich palette and the monumentality and sensuality of the forms. But Botero particularly admired Picasso’s ‘nonconformism’ (sic). In both their works, the distortion of the human body and volumes corresponds to a subjective view of reality. Although I accept those distorted faces and figures in Picasso’s work, I have difficulty in accepting the huge « fat » bodies that Botero comes up with. Never the less, it reflects a radically modern approach in the history of figurative art, which is at the root of each artist’s artistic language.
Botero, dialogue avec Picasso (that’s self explanatory in English) gives an overview of the themes they tackled in their work. The panoply is extensive, surprising and although the pictures are not shown side by side (thank goodness) the whole exhibition comes alive with the different eras in their lives.-
I came into this…
« You cannot finish something if you do not begin. You have to finish something you have started, and take risks. In that regard, there is no better example than Picasso. » Botero
OK, but with Picasso « dashing » off sometimes 10 or more paintings in a day, I wonder if he was really taking a risk?
This is what a saw coming into the courtyard…you couldn’t miss it, could you?
Let's have a look at the different artistic periods which influenced the two men.
Botero was very attactched to the area where he lived in Colombia and wanted to keep these roots in his paintings. You see this at once with one of the first pictures I came into...
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| The Street - 2000 |
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He even notes next to the painting :-
If you go to Colombia you will see that my paintings and the country are one and the same
Then come the Portraits and self portraits.
Contrary to Picasso, Botero didn't paint many portraits. His "people" were often imaginery as he felt that
the subjectivity and poetry of a work were indispensable if a painting was to appear sincere and authentic.
Even now, sometime later, I'm trying to come to terms with that statement.
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| Portrait of Picasso - 1998 |
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| Self Portrait - 1998 |
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| Pedrito - 1981 |
And Picasso in1938
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| The artist in front on his painting ... |
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Or his son Paul when he was 3
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| Paul dressed as Arlequin (I prefer that to Buffoon) - 1932 |
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In the next gallery, I see this
Copy or Appropriation - The Imaginery museum of the artist..
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| After Holbein - 2016 |
All artists have copied works of different periods. Delacroix to Manet, Van Gogh to Matisse. For Botero it is not so much the copy but making the "painting" his own and giving it another touch versus the original...
Throughout his life, Picasso had a strong relationship with tradition and felt the need to dialogue with his passed masters...
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| Portrait of a lady following Cranach the Young ll - 1958 |
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| The Meninas (The infant Margarita Maria) 1957 |
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| The Meninas (Isabel de Velasco, Maria Barbola and Nicolasito Pertusato) 1957 |
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In the words of Picasso:
Las Meninas, what a pictures. Velazquez is the real painter of reality (12th March, 1935)
Botero and Cranach
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| After Cranach - 2016 |
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| After Piero Della Francesca - 1998 |
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And this rather overwhelming person ...
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| After d'Ingres Madame Moitessier - 1989 |
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| After Velazquez - 1959 |
And of course you know who this is, don't you? Velazquez again...
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| Still Life - 1970 |
Then there was a gallery of still life. As you know, these are not really my cup of tea but here it seemed to be different
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| This is actually a triptyque. Yellow, Blue and Red flowers - 2006 |
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| Chair with clothes - 2004 |
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| Still Life with a guitare - 2002 |
This particular still life reminds me of many painted by Cezanne, Braque, and especially Picasso. A Table in front of an open window and the sea behind it. Musical instruments seem to make their appearance in many of the still life of the masters. Strange perhaps that such a image was not chosen for Picasso, unless the sea is yellow!
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| Violin and newspaper on a green carpet -Picasso 1921 |
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| Still life on a chest of drawers - 1919: |
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Difficult to believe that the above is a Picasso. The painting with the violin seems to have the caracteristiques of the cubist period, although done much later. Both Picasso and Braque inserted letters and words and figures into their cubist paintings. Probably to make them seem more realistic for the viewer...
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| The Bathroom - 1989 | | | | | | |
The nude series started with this. A painting I know and I can't say that I like it. I can laugh at it!
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| Woman lying down - 2002 |
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| Woman at the beach - 2002 |
These too, seem to be reminiscent
of Picasso.
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| Family at the seaside - 1922 - Picasso. |
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This is a painting that I have always loved of Picasso. Not because it is more realistic that we are used to. He seems to have chosen a much more intimate style to depict his family. The colours are very representative of the Normandy coast. Rather dark and dull at times. There is something very tender about the composition.
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| Couple - 1967 : |
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Although later than the previous painting, we can see in which direction Picasso is going.
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| The end of the fête - 2006 |
It seems to be an improbable scene for a brothel - everything seems to be in this picture. Music, still life, a baby...
There is a lovely anecdote which is written on the wall of the gallery. When Botero was in France in 1952, he said to a friend, "let's go and see Picasso". When they arrived at Vallauris, he knocked at the door and a rather old man answered it. "We've come to see Picasso". I imagine the man was somewhat taken aback and informed them that without a rendez-vous, Picasso saw no-one. They went back to a café and asked if Picasso came in and were told "Yes, nearly everyday". They waited, but Picasso never turned up. Someone else said "He does go to the beach at Juan-les-Pins. So off they went to the beach. Picasso wasn't there either...it was the only time that Botero could have met Picasso but he never did...
Botero was also invloved in politics.
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| The President |
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| The President's wife - 1989 |
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| Earthquake - 2000 |
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These round figures don't seem to be so violent as, for instance, Picasso's Guernica and even an earth quake, although the horror can be seen quite clearly, it doesn't "feel" so disastrous.
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| Massacre in Korea - 1951 | | |
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Whereas Picasso's Massacre in Korea, tells a different story...
However, Botero's Massacre is quite horrifying...
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| The Massacre at 20h15 |
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These represent the tragic events in Colombia. Drug traffic, - the wars between the cartel - this picture comes from an attack which happened in Medellin. A bomb exploded in a restaurant at 20h15...
It's not suprising that both men were very attracted to bull fighting. I have always found this a dreadful passtime. In Spain, years ago, I left soon after a bullfight had started. I never saw the young man who had invited me - again...
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| The Picador's horse - 1992 |
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| The Torero - 1991 |
It's another story from Picasso ...
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| The Matador - 1970 |
Both men are passionate about bull fighting. Picasso shows a violent scene - dramatic and chaotic. I can't say that Botero is much better but at least it is another form of realism. Picasso went to his first corrida when he was 8 years old - he said "if I hadn't been a painter I would have been a picador"....
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| Death of the Torero - 1933 |
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| This is a portrait of a masked Picasso on the beach - 1949 |
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| The Cornada - 1988 |
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| Circus Trick - 2007 |
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Another passion shared by both artists is the circus. This was the first picture I saw. Straight after the "Cornada" it seemed to be a highly improbably circus trick. The more I look at Botero's paintings, the more I find them static. As if stopped for a moment in time.
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| Ballerina at the Bar - 2001 |
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Even this ballerina at the bar seems to be still for me...
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| L'Enlèvement d'Europe - 1995 |
Then abruptly we come upon this. But no, it is not a return to bull fighting but "The Abduction of Europe"
So many artists loved acrobats and the circus -Botero's work is strange...we are at the circus but when and where?
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| L'Arrastre -1987 |
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| The Musiciens - 200 |
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| Pierrot - 2007 |
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| A Circus entertainer (Homme du Cirque |
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| Flying Trapeze - 2007 |
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| Elephant - 2007 |
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| Horse and Dog - 2007 |
2007
Somehow I feel the elephant moves more than the horse....
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| The Acrobat - 1930 |
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Picasso sees the circus in another way - especially the acrobat!
His "sketchings" are divine !
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| Arlequin à la Batte et au Loup - 1916 |
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| Arlequin et Pierrot - 1918 |
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| Horse and woman trainer - 1920 |
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Their musicians too are oh so different
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| Carnaval - 2016 |
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| Man with a Violin - 2004 |
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| Musicien (Picasso) - 1972 |
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Or pehraps you would like to dance?
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| The Village Dance - 1922 (Picasso) |
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| Dancers - 2002 |
What a contrast between the two scenes...
Unfortunately, we finished on a rather sad note and here Picasso had escaped the sadness...
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| Woman falling from a balcony - 1944 |
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| Woman crying - 1988 |
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| Mother and Child.. 2004 |
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The three paintings were created over quite a long period and yet could have been done perhaps at the same time.
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| Botero - |
He is such a handsome man. Still alive and working between Monaco, Piertransanta (Toscany) and New York. Also there are more and more exhibitions in the major museums all around the world: Rome, Cologne, Milan, Berlin, Singapour, Tokyo, Seoul, Vienna, Bilbao, Miami (2005-2017)
I retraced my tracks and read this...
"When one paints, one must be careful, take care of the colours. Painting is a gesture of love. Thanks to it, hate changes into love"
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Lorsqu'on peint, on doit soigner, etre utile avec les couleurs.La peinture est un gesture d'amour. Grâce à elle, la haine se transforme en amour").
I don't know why, but tears came into my eyes. Then suddenly, out of no-where, someone came up to me
"It is time to go, Madame. The Museum is closed" -
I came out to this Christmas tree and just beyond, Botero's horse...
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