A 3D Exploration of Picasso's Guernica (flash movie via)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth on May 15, 2008 - 29 comments

Le Reve and Me is a blog dedicated to one man's experience with a poster of Picasso's Le Reve, the original of which was sold at Christie's and subsequently (and accidentally) damaged by owner Steve Wynn. [another excellent Picasso post from the archives!]
posted by grapefruitmoon on Apr 17, 2007 - 8 comments

A Hidden Picasso: Will Shank always suspected something was buried beneath Picasso's Scène de Rue, a somber street scene painted by Picasso in the fall of 1900 during his first stay in Paris. X-rays revealed a second painting: a nightclub scene which appeared to be the prototype for Picasso's Le Moulin de la Galette, a 1900 painting thought to be the first Picasso made in Paris. Technicians extracted the colors visible through the cracks in the surface of Scène de Rue and transferred them onto a black-and-white radiograph.
posted by fandango_matt on Mar 27, 2007 - 17 comments

Happy anniversary, modern art. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon are 100 years old and look as fresh and exciting as ever.
posted by bru on Jan 11, 2007 - 41 comments

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
posted by jonson on Jan 1, 2007 - 28 comments

Minotauromaquia - a stop motion animated short set to Stravinsky's in which Picasso confronts the minotaur and some other painted characters come to life. The image of the Minotaur is a recurring symbol of self in Picasso's works. (main link via Milinkito [more])
posted by madamjujujive on Nov 5, 2006 - 12 comments

Dora Maar was immortalized by Picasso in many portraits, one of which is up for auction this May. Tho many are familiar with her face, fewer are aware that she was a respected surrealist photographer in her own right. An exhibit at the Musee Picasso in Paris documents the stormy and artistically rich decade of their relationship via the contents of Dora Maar's estate.
posted by madamjujujive on Feb 26, 2006 - 9 comments

When Henri met Pablo. Wandering through the rue des Martyrs in 1908, Picasso stopped beside an upholstery shop. "A head peered out, the face of a woman, hard eyes, a penetrating look, decisiveness and clarity. The canvas was huge. I enquired about the price. 'A hundred sous,' replied the dealer. 'You can paint over it.' It was one of the truest portraits ever of the French psyche."
Henri Rousseau's five-franc, life-size woman in Van Dyck black stayed at Picasso's side until his death, longer than any flesh-and-blood muse. A century later, she towers over us at Tate Modern's Rousseau retrospective as imperiously as a Velázquez monarch. More inside.
posted by matteo on Nov 5, 2005 - 21 comments

~Balnea~ Virtual Museum of Sea Bathing and Seaside Tourism
This beautiful and comprehensive Italian site records the development of human association with the sea from the 18th to the 20th century. Art works, posters and photographs display the evolving nature of seaside architecture, fashion, lifesaving, cafes/amusements, sun protection, pavillions and more. There are even vintage essays and partially digitized books (some are in english) as well as beach tunes (midi files) for those so-inclined. [site map] via
posted by peacay on Aug 4, 2005 - 3 comments

Are you in the market for fine art? Have you considered looking at Costco [Philly Enquirer link]? Last week, an original, authenticated Pablo Picasso sketch sold from their website for about $35,000. Currently you can purchase Mourlot edition lithographs by Modigliani and Chagall, as well as prints from the Picasso Estate Collection with a click of your mouse. Would you trust Costco for your fine art purchases?
posted by ScottUltra on Jan 25, 2005 - 10 comments

As a brutal civil war ravages the NBA, loyalist forces are under attack from a fascist coup led by Generalissimo David Stern. Stern promises prosperity and stability to the people of Indiana. [Special thanks to this guy.]
posted by Civil_Disobedient on Nov 24, 2004 - 17 comments

Guernica. Take a stroll through some famous works of art (larger version here.) More Pocket Movies. [Via The Cartoonist.]
posted by homunculus on Mar 29, 2004 - 1 comment

How I Met And Dated Miss Emily Dickinson: Have you ever wondered what a favourite writer really looked like? Is there any relationship between an artist's face and their art? Hemingway looks like his prose; Ezra Pound like his poetry; Picasso is a dead ringer for his paintings but, say, John Updike doesn't resemble his fiction; T.S.Eliot looks like a bank clerk and Matisse was nothing like his works. How superficial can you get? [Via Arts and Letters Daily.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jan 2, 2004 - 27 comments

The On-Line Picasso Project offers 6,893 works for your ogling pleasure, plus an obsessively documented chronological bio. I'm stunned. (please read the user's manual, inside.)
posted by taz on Oct 2, 2003 - 12 comments

The Power of Art? This interesting article becomes extremely clever if you think about some of the basic history of "Guernica". Little-known artist Picasso (see '37 for initial ideas, '45 for completed painting) was commissioned to paint it after the horrific slaughters of the Spanish Civil War. “...Picasso's tour de force would become one of this century's most unsettling indictments of war.” (more inside)
posted by valval22 on Feb 6, 2003 - 11 comments