Guess who? Well, no, I wouldn't have guessed either. It's Picasso. (Self-portrait with Wig, 1900)
I stole an hour this afternoon to visit Picasso's Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery.
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| Woman in a Hat (Olga), 1935 |
On the page, this portrait of his first wife Olga looks whimsical; but when you see the actual painting, those big eyes - painted as their marriage ended - look terribly sad and bereft.
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| Portrait of Olga Picasso, 1923 |
Olga again, looking so troubled - she worried about her family in Russia. I loved this portrait, and the wonderful bronze folds of her dress ...
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| Francis Poulenc And was taken aback by this somewhat unexpected herringbone jacket. |
The two aspects of Olga at different times in their relationship are fascinating, but I prefer the earlier one. The later one does seem to say a lot for such a spare piece. All that aside, there you go making me green with envy before breakfast with your talk of stealing an hour to pop into the gallery.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you, Darlene - and knew if you were there we'd have ended up at Any Amount of Books. I must have been tired, I didn't think my feet would carry me the extra distance!
ReplyDeleteHe could paint so beautifully! I can never understand why he did those strange paintings later in his life. (I will probably never make it as an art critic.)
ReplyDeleteI think they're often very moving, Pam - like the Weeping Woman, as if he's turning her inside out.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way as Pam does.
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