Picasso’s artistic accomplishments can hardly be put into words. He dominated Western art in the 20th century, revolutionized the very way in which people thought about and perceived art, and inspired countless artists after him. He co-founded the Cubist movement and the use of collage in art, which continues to be seen in the work of today’s artists.
Some of Picasso’s most celebrated pieces, including The Two Saltimbanques (1901), Gertrude Stein (1906), Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), Guernica (1937), and The Weeping Woman (1937), are seen by millions of people in important art institutions around the world.
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Almost as soon as he settled in Paris as a young man, Picasso’s talents attracted the attention of art patrons and collectors. He became a favorite of American art collectors Leo and Gertrude Stein, who collected his art and introduced him to other collectors.
American artist Max Weber studied in Paris and met Picasso in 1909. The first to bring Picasso into the United States, Weber convinced photographer Alfred Stieglitz to put on the first Picasso show in the country.
"At the time it was remarkably different from what most artists were painting. This is very subdued, almost black and white, incredibly simple. It's one of the first developments towards cubism,” Weber said of Picasso.
The show at Stieglitz’s 291 Gallery in New York in 1911 introduced Picasso’s art to Americans. In 1915, Stieglitz put on another Picasso show, this time adding in the works of Braque and Mexican carvings and pottery. In 1939, thousands of people attended the Museum of Modern Art’s exhibition Picasso: Forty Years of His Art. Cubism had clearly found its footing in the world of high art.
Picasso’s talents also extended to other art forms. Starting in 1916, he collaborated on ballet and theatrical productions. He designed the costumes and sets for the ballet Parade, performed by the Ballets Russes, a Russian ballet company, in Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet in 1917.
His fame rose even more in 1932, when the Georges Petit gallery in Paris and the Kunsthaus gallery in Zurich put on large exhibitions of his work. Picasso’s international fame also rose that year because the art critic Christian Zervos published the first volume of his catalogue raisonné. a comprehensive catalogue of Picasso’s work. Significant exhibitions during Picasso’s lifetime took place at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1939 and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1955.
Despite never having been in the United States, Picasso’s art has influenced countless American artists, including Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Stuart Davis, and Louise Bourgeois. Bourgeois, a renowned sculptor, was so inspired after seeing a Picasso show, that she painted a Picasso-style self-portrait. Pollack was so impressed by Picasso that he famously said, “That [bleeping] Picasso . . . he’s done everything.”
Picasso’s influence even extended into pop art; artists like Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns mimicked his art.
Public demand for Picasso remains high. In 2009, the Whitney Museum in New York City highlighted Picasso’s influence on later artists by exhibiting Picasso and American Art, which displayed Picasso’s works juxtaposed with famous artists such as Pollock and de Kooning. The Gagosian Gallery’s Picasso: Mosqueteros exhibit, shown in 2009, was a highly praised show that brought renewed interest to Picasso’s later works of art. Museums with a Picasso enjoy the prestige and validity that his name brings.
Art students around the world study Picasso. His sculptures, such as the Chicago Picasso, Mandolin and Clarinet, and Glass of Absinthe, are seen by thousands of people every day. With people still clamoring for and celebrating his art 38 years after his death, Picasso’s greatest achievement is his immortal fame.
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