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.
 |
| 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.
 |
| 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 ...
 |
| Francis Poulenc And was taken aback by this somewhat unexpected herringbone jacket. |
5 comments:
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.
I 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!
He 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.)
I think they're often very moving, Pam - like the Weeping Woman, as if he's turning her inside out.
I feel the same way as Pam does.
Post a Comment