Pablo Picasso Activity

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Pablo Picasso Activity
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Partner Activity

• Open a document in Microsoft Word
• Make sure both of your names are on the paper
• As you go through the activity, discuss the
  questions, then write your answers TOGETHER.
• Make sure you have thoughtfully answered the
  questions.
• Use complete sentences

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Picasso wasnt always political, but he said this
in 1945

• What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who
  has only eyes if hes a painter, or ears if hes
  a musician, or a lyre at every level of his heart
  if hes a poet, or even, if hes a boxer, just
  his muscles? On the contrary, hes at the same
  time a political being, constantly alive to
  heartrending, fiery, or happy events, to which he
  responds in every way. . . . No, painting is
  not done to decorate apartments. It is an
  instrument of war for attack and defense against
  the enemy. Pablo Picasso, Statement, in Chipp,
  Theories of Modern Art, 487.

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Question 1

• Discuss with your partner
• What is Picasso saying in that statement?
• Do you agree? Why or why not?
• What are some examples of artists (painters,
  poets, musicians, actors) who have made political
  statements?
• Write a paragraph sharing your thoughts on this
  topic.

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Charnel House, painted between 1944-45
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Question 2

• Look at Charnel House and discuss with your
  partner
• What was going on in the world at this time?
• In what ways is this painting like Guernica?
• How is it different?
• What does charnel mean? What images or events
  does this title evoke?
• Write a paragraph sharing your thoughts on this
  topic.

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In 1944 Picasso said
In 1944, Picasso said, I have not painted the
war because I am not the kind of painter who goes
out like a photographer for something to depict.
Pablo Picasso, quoted in Picasso in the
Collection of The Museum of Modern Art. William
S. Rubin (New York The Museum of Modern Art,
1972), 166.
In this quote,
Picasso was distinguishing between recording an
event, as a documentary photographer would, and
commenting on an event as an artist. Picasso
began Charnel House in the months that followed
having been exposed through newspapers to
horrifying photographs of concentration camps.
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Question 3

• With your partner, consider Guernica and
  Charnel House
• How does Picasso communicate the innocence of the
  suffering people represented in the paintings?
• Unlike Guernica, Charnel House does not
  explicitly represent an historical event, and the
  title of the work is unspecific. How do you think
  Picassos choice not to be explicit about his
  topic impacts the effect of the painting?
• Write a paragraph sharing your thoughts on this
  topic.

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Question 4

• Watch the video called Pablo Picasso
• Make sure the sound is low
• With your partner discuss the following
• What emotion(s) is the main character feeling?
• How do the different settings contribute to these
  feelings?
• How does the music contribute to these feeling?
• How do you interpret the end?
• Write a paragraph sharing your thoughts on this
  topic.

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Read about the periods Picasso went through with
his painting and observe some paintings from each
period.
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Blue Period
The Guitar Player
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The Acrobats
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Reservoir at Horta
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The Guitar Player
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The Dream
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Skull and Pitcher
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With your partner

• Choose a period that interests you.
• Choose a search engine and look for paintings
  during that period
• For example In Google, Picasso, Blue Period
• Copy and paste the painting into your word
  document
• Write a paragraph discussing why you chose the
  period and painting.

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When you have finished

• Read through your paragraphs.
• Spell check
• Complete sentences
• Does it make sense?
• Print out and turn in