Comments on: The Mystery of Picasso

The Mystery of Picasso

jonson — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:44:59 -0800

This time-lapse video of an oil-painting being created by Pablo Picasso is brief, but captivating. The clip is a scene taken from the 1955 French documentary "The Mystery of Picasso," in which director Henri-Georges Clouzot filmed the artist painting 20 different pieces. Bizarrely enough, almost all the art created for the film had to be destroyed upon close of production due to contractual obligation. Via

By: phaedon

phaedon — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:53:31 -0800

that is a fascinating progression... most unexpected.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:53:47 -0800

Also via 16mm filmstrip when I was in middle school. Something very surreal about seeing that again, all of a sudden, after fifteen years. I remember the concensus at the time was something like this: "Man. That cow was looking really good, but then he went and fucked it all up."

By: nj_subgenius

nj_subgenius — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:04:04 -0800

I think I understand better now. For me it was 'Guernica' and nothing else made sense. The layering over the two dimensions in this time lapse made it build to what we see. We don't see how it got there without this. Nice!

By: Heywood Mogroot

Heywood Mogroot — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:17:55 -0800

reactions: part I: meh, what crap part II: wow, I see what he's doing here. . . part III: awesome! part IV: hrmm

By: frykitty

frykitty — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:19:51 -0800

That's amazing. Instead of going to the canvas with a finished painting in his head, he went with a process. It's like he was working out an equation or philosophical problem as he painted. The first layer is a question, and he continues with the answer. The Spousal Unit was looking over my shoulder, and commented that it would be a wonder to see more like this--to watch Pollock's process, to know how Vermeer built his layers. What an eye-opener. Thank you.

By: eparchos

eparchos — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:24:14 -0800

Reactions (thank you Heywood for the format) Part I: What is this? Part 2: Oh! Part 3: This is sort of dull.... Part 4: Oh wow! Part 5: What is this? Great link, thanks!

By: unSane

unSane — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:32:32 -0800

It looks less finished at the end than it did in the middle... which is a Very Good Thing.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:34:12 -0800

A glimpse of genius at work, very exciting - I loved this. Thanks, jonson, now I know how part of my Amazon gift certificate will be spent - I have to get this documentary!

By: Wolof

Wolof — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:39:51 -0800

It's a decent little flick, no doubt about it.

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:43:50 -0800

... it would be a wonder to see more like this--to watch Pollock's process ... The 1951 documentary on Pollock Jackson Pollock 51 by Hans Namuth and Paul Falkenberg has a segment showing Pollock painting on glass and filmed from below (extract, without glass painting, here).

By: y2karl

y2karl — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:47:38 -0800

Well, we all now know jonson either does not have a time machine or it's in the shop.

By: jonson

jonson — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:51:26 -0800

y2karl, don't I wish. Of course, if I had one, then there's a chance nj_subgenius would have one, and he'd just use it to go back and beat me.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 01:48:03 -0800

This is just way too fuckin' great. Fascinating. Thanks, jonson. And, what frykitty said (except when it got to the Spousal Unit part: my S.U. is at some other site on her own computer, at the moment).

By: Acey

Acey — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:08:59 -0800

Excellent, though I'd have to agree: it looked better before he changed it all. But then that's why he's a genius and I'm not.

By: jpburns

jpburns — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 04:46:13 -0800

Well some people try to pick up girls And get called assholes This never happened to Pablo Picasso He could walk down your street And girls could not resist his stare and So Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole Well the girls would turn the color Of the avocado when he would drive Down their street in his El Dorado He could walk down your street And girls could not resist his stare Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole Not like you Alright Well he was only 5'3" But girls could not resist his stare Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole Not in New York Oh well be not schmuck, be not obnoxious, Be not bellbottom bummer or asshole Remember the story of Pablo Picasso He could walk down your street And girls could not resist his stare Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole Alright this is it Some people try to pick up girls And they get called an asshole This never happened to Pablo Picasso He could walk down your street And girls could not resist his stare and so Pablo Picasso was never called...

By: melissa may

melissa may — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 06:41:23 -0800

Thanks, jonson; I really loved that. My favorite depiction of Picasso's process has always been the famous Gjon Mili portrait of him painting a centaur with light. That utter sureness of line -- even in air -- is a beautiful thing to watch unfold.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 07:00:00 -0800

For those interested in the process of creation ala Pollock, I suggest renting Ed Harris' "Pollock" and fast-forwarding to the scene where he creates the murals for Peggy Guggenheim's apartment. I can't think of a better depiction of the power and emotion in the act of artistic creation than that scene. Really well done.

By: JWright

JWright — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 07:27:28 -0800

Thing is, Picasso didn't care how it looked. He cared about the process. The guy was painting photorealistic portraits at 13. He knew he could paint a bull fight. That bored him. What he didn't know is what else he could get out of the scene. So he painted the basics, and then, yeah, deliberately fucked it up looking for some magic in expression, line, form, color, or whatever showed up.

By: bobobox

bobobox — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:09:26 -0800

Yes, get this documentary. I watched the whole thing last night, mesmerized. Precursor and anti-thesis of Bob Ross.

By: carmina

carmina — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:26:20 -0800

wow, jonson. This is truly fantastic. A glimpse into the thought process behind a painting. Amazing! Note how he more or less starts to paint in less abstract form, clear images and constant angles, then he adds the color and then he totally goes off to different viewpoints (cubism extraordinaire) and angles at the end. Totally fascinating. I assume this should be thoroughly studied and analyzed. I wish we had similar resources for other artists too. I am so getting this documentary too, mjjj

By: thekilgore

thekilgore — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 09:54:26 -0800

This is what I want to show people when they see modern works of art and say "I could do that". Like JWright said, he could paint photorealism, but it's much more interesting to see that realism deconstructed. Very cool post.

By: ninthart

ninthart — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:09:52 -0800

Fantastic. Thanks Jonson. Your posts lately have been great.

By: jonson

jonson — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:28:46 -0800

Thanks, ninthat. I was trying to win a contest.

By: landis

landis — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:53:21 -0800

I believe that the reason none of the work from the film survives is due to the special materials Picasso had to use. The paints were unstable and faded relatively quickly after drying. Can't remember where I read this. Good post.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:50:59 -0800

Wonderful post! Thanks once again jonson. Picasso's process is thrilling. More Picasso painting live. More of Picasso's process in action, The Mystery of Picasso, 1956, part 1, part 2.

By: faineant

faineant — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 08:55:45 -0800

Awesome...and the docu went to the top of my amazon wish list, tyvm.

By: jlori

jlori — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 09:41:32 -0800

Great reference, I linked it at El misterio de Picasso.

By: elfollador

elfollador — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 10:34:46 -0800

someone once said that knowing how to paint is half the battle, you also have to know when to stop painting. I thought he had a better version somewhere in the middle. but it was damn cool to see a genius at work. nice post.