Thursday, October 25, 2012

Underneath the Woman is a Man

"Woman Ironing" by Picasso
The fact that Picasso started a portrait of a man and then switched his idea to "Woman Ironing" is no big deal. Painters do this all the time. I often sand down a head or face numerous times and make shifts in composition. If a painting takes months to work on, it may end up a whole different painting than I originally intended by the time I am done. The "process" of painting is fascinating- it keeps painters challenged and interested. We are allowed to change our minds and change our strokes. It looks like Picasso flipped his original sketch upside down and this may mean that he simply wanted to reuse the canvas and/or wasn't satisfied with his idea in the first place. Anyway, I'm glad Picasso decided to paint over it or we might have missed out on this masterpiece- "Woman Ironing"- which is currently on display at the Guggenheim in the exhibition "Picasso Black and White".
Go here> LINK (NYTimes) to reveal the painting underneath. Just scratch the image with your mouse! By the way, it is Picasso's birthday (born Oct. 25, 1881). He is definitely one of my favorite artists, warts and all. I have learned so much from looking at his art.
 
Stay tuned to this blog - I will reveal a new painting of mine very soon.

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