Pablo Picasso is undoubtedly one of the great master artists of the twentieth century. Renowned for his Cubist techniques, Picasso was a prolific artist whose breadth of work has continually enticed and delighted museum audiences. Working from the turn-of-the-century through the early seventies, Picasso is most often characterized by his incomparable painting style.
Still, Picasso's abilities as an artist went far beyond those of the paintbrush. In its current exhibition, "Picasso: The Vollard Suite, 1930-1937," the Hood Museum of Art presents a series of 100 prints by Picasso, which reveal the artist's capacity to produce powerful artwork in any media.
Picasso seems to have devoted much energy to his printmaking in the 1930's. During this time, Picasso was in close contact with Ambroise Vollard, the owner of a Paris gallery, famed for his discovery of artists including Paul Czanne, Henri Matisse, and Picasso, whom he first met in 1901. Although not commissioned by Vollard, the Vollard Suite grew out of an agreement between Picasso and the compilation's namesake.
Picasso agreed to give 100 prints to Vollard in exchange for some paintings from the gallery owner's collection. No single narrative runs through the Suite; instead, several subjects appear throughout the 100 prints -- most notably, themes of the sculptor's studio, the artist's relationship with his model, the Minotaur, rape, sexual desire and domination.
The prints are presented in chronological order and comprise the complete Vollard Suite, part of the Hood Museum's permanent collection.
The earliest prints in the Vollard Suite date from September 1930. These prints offer a noticeably different perspective of Picasso's technique from that of his more familiar styles.
"Their linear simplicity is in marked contrast to the majority of Picasso's late 1920's and early 1930's work. During this period, his abstract Surrealist style dominates," exhibition curator Kathy Hart explains in the exhibition's accompanying labels.
Most of the prints in the Suite are etched in a classical style, although some do veer into more typical Picasso territory. Picasso's imaginative genius shines through in each print though. Picasso's emotional current is integral to his work, and the prints reveal the often-revisited subjects that have most affected Picasso during the thirties.
The theme of the sculptor's studio seems to have been of particular interest to Picasso. These subjects first appear in 1931's "Two Sculptors before a Statue" and are formulated in many variations throughout the Suite.
For Picasso, 1933 was an important year in the production of works for the Vollard Suite. That year he created 62 prints; interestingly, 39 of these deal with the theme of the sculptor's studio.
The model in most of the prints is Marie-Thrse, one of Picasso's lovers. Although the model is a key component of the scenes, the dialogue between the artist and his artwork is the most prominent subject in these prints. In fact, the sculptor only first looks at the model (as opposed to his artistic creation of her) in April 1933. At the same time the model first elicits the sculptor's attention -- she looks at an image of herself in a mirror. She sees a direct reflection of herself, no longer through the sculptor's eyes.
The artist's hand is an important part of the Vollard Suite both thematically and visually. While Picasso explores the relationship between the artist and his work, the finely etched lines of the prints themselves make studying Picasso's technique very easy.
Picasso often combines several etching techniques within a single print. While some figures within a composition may be etched in a simple linear outline, other figures are depicted with greater detail, such as shading. In some instances, the shaded sculpture appears more real and solid than the thinly outlined model.
Straying from the literal sense of the sculptor's studio, Picasso allows the mythological Minotaur to stand in for the artist in many of the prints. In doing so, Picasso is able to make the prints seem less autobiographical, in the sense that the artist-sculpture theme strikes very close to home. The theme of the Minotaur opens up a different realm of subject matter that recurs throughout the Vollard Suite.
"Symbolic of man's dual nature of bestiality and humanity, Picasso's Minotaur is capable of carnality, violence, tenderness, and pathos," Hart writes.
The Minotaur appears in the prints as both a victim and an aggressor. In addition to appearing in the sculptor's studio, the Minotaur is featured in mythologically-influenced prints such as 1933's "Vanquished Minotaur." Here, the Minotaur is wounded in an arena by a young hero, as in the Greek myth in which Theseus kills the Minotaur. In the background, Marie Thrse seems to have once again modeled as a woman in the stands who admires the young man's heroism.
It is clear from the variety within these 100 prints that Picasso's work was influenced by countless factors. Picasso was affected by not only the classic influences seen in many of his prints but also by other artists. The simplification of the human figure in these prints is similar to the technique of Picasso's contemporary, Matisse. Both artists betray an interest in condensing the human form into a more primitive style.
More overtly, Picasso features the Dutch painter Rembrandt in four of these prints. Picasso attributed the initial appearance of Rembrandt in works such as 1934's "Rembrandt with Palette" and "Rembrandt and Female Heads" as having resulted by accident. In trying to "make do" with a ruined plate, Picasso worked further on it and, soon enough, Rembrandt appeared.
While 97 of the prints feature themes stemming from Picasso's exuberant imagination, the three final plates of the Vollard Suite are portraits of Vollard himself in 1937. These final prints completed the agreement between Picasso and Vollard.
As can be seen throughout the prints, Picasso's masterful handling of the printmaking technique makes the Vollard Suite one of the highpoints of printmaking. The Vollard Suite takes a comprehensive look into the printmaking that occupied much of the artist's life in the 1930's and a firsthand glimpse into the ever-captivating imagination of Pablo Picasso.
