Friday, April 10, 2015

{ Inspired by }


PABLO PICASSO
The fifth muse we were inspired by for our winter photoshoot was Pablo Picasso. Picasso was one of the most significant artists of the 20th century, and was the pioneer of art movements such as cubism and collage, and had major contributions towards symbolism and surrealism. To put this another way: most artists just make art – they don’t form movements, and especially more than one!

Picasso was actually born in Spain but spent much of his life in France. By the age of 19 he had gravitated to the mecca of all artists at this time: Montmartre, in Paris.  His real name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso – in short, Pablo Picasso.

He was a famously charismatic personality in his time, and he certainly wasn’t short on ego, although he was rather short in height – he was only 5' 4”. He had many relationships with often much younger women, famously saying “Love is the greatest refreshment in life”. His love affairs not only filtered into his art but also possibly directed its course.

He was quoted as saying:

“When I was a child my mother said to me…
If you become a soldier, you’ll become a great general.
If you become a monk, you’ll end up as the pope. 
Instead I was a painter, and became Picasso.”

He also said:

“I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them” 
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.”

And one of our favourites,

“Everything you can imagine is real.”

Picasso’s iconic striped shirt, was no ordinary shirt – it is a Breton striped shirt, originally worn as the official uniform of the French seamen in Brittany in 1858. The navy and white knit top has 21 horizontal stripes to represent each of Napoleon's victories. This style of top is still fashionable today.

And one final piece of trivia:

More of Picasso’s paintings have been stolen than those of any other artist!

Below is the hero shot used in our Winter 2015 campaign, that was inspired by Picasso:



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