P-I-C-A-S-S-O

In the time of love and war, of which for the artist Pablo Picasso is between the period of 1935 and 1945... the years not only being tumultuous because of civil war and unrest but also being witness to the creation of much of Picasso's famous works, motivated and inspired both by war and the outcome of war and ah, of course his love affair with photographer and artist Dora Maar.

By no means am I an authority in art and its literature, and so whatever I say regarding an artwork would be purely amateur, insignificant to others but myself, and base on randomness in my thoughts and perceptions; and certainly not rooted in any study or academic investigation. Despite of that, I am still able to say that modern art is not exactly on top of my list of preferences. If there is an era for me to fancy, it will be that period and time of the Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists. And so my expectation was not too high up when we went to attend the exhibition of Picasso's work at the National Gallery of Victoria a couple of weeks ago.

Weird is how my unrefined self would classify many of Picasso's work. Avant-garde is probably how art connoisseurs would alternatively put it. Abstract? Master of cubist art? The distortions and angular, jagged features are pretty difficult to put together, or perhaps it is not really meant to be analysed in such a way. It is no surprise that during Hitler's regime, this sort of art was deemed as "degenerative" and the artists of such degenerative art are classified as abnormal for having that view of the world. Today, such artwork are worth millions. There is no contesting that Picasso is a talented artist and my eyes are not being unappreciative of his works... and although I still scoffed at his minotaur works where it is obvious that he portrays himself as the strong, powerful Greek mythological monster, conquering women and exalting masculinity (what a nutcase!), it is no doubt that each of his work and the development of his sketches, drawings, paintings are screaming with strong emotions - be it love, passion, anger, despair, etc. Anyway, my skepticism carried on until I saw a series of women paintings that struck me. And then a bit of approval crept in. Picasso's Weeping Woman series is painfully beautiful. For me, that is. Many said that he painted these because of quarrels with Dora Maar or pain caused to a lover, and that the weeping woman is Dora Maar. But it is also said, and perhaps holds more validity and truth, that the series resulted from the devastation and emotions, raw anguish felt after the bombing and raid of Guernica, where many lives were taken and a town destroyed. Suffering and pain persists in the exaggerated drawing of the weeping face, eyes very huge and almost bulging out, tears like continuous stream of water, the eye socket almost torn and weighed down by heavy, sharp nails.

It is interesting to see the development of art and the artist's style. For most artists, their art would be influenced by events in their lives, their view of the world when they created the work, injected with what they feel at that particular time. With Pablo Picasso, it is evident that he, a womanizer, produces works that are inspired mostly by the different women and love of the different periods of his life. With Dora Maar, he also learned to do and manipulate photo prints, he drew and took pictures of Dora Maar; she is behind many of his paintings. In works of art, we see a snapshot of events long past, of what made up our history, a peek through the eyes and soul of those who are gifted enough to put them in canvas.