Picasso, Plans and Palaces

There is a Picasso exhibition showing at the National Art Gallery in Sofia until January. It made headlines... a must see, even if you are not a fan of cubist art.  It is free.  It is housed in the former royal palace.  And the weather is perfect for a walk downtown.

I haven't always been a Picasso fan. Like most children, I really didn't have any appreciation for his art when I was first introduced to it. I started to understand some of the techniques when my art teacher had me examine his drawings during my A-level studies. It wasn't until much later, when I was introducing Picasso to my students, that I developed an admiration for the artist's huge range of ability.

At first, the palace seemed a strange venue for modern art. Its classical designs were certainly not echoed in Picasso's black and white drawings.  The exhibition contained collections of drawings that were variations on a theme. Rather than one being a study or exploration, that would evolve into the last, each piece stood

on its own. The artist chose to change small details in each or the whole artistic style.

I looked closely at four prints of the familiar theme, "David and Bathsheba".  In one the faces were detailed, leaving no doubt as to the emotions, but in others they were left blank, causing you to wonder what the character was thinking. The beautifully stylized Bathsheba appeared static and superficial, where the woman bathing her, a simple outline, was full of movement.

I like this print of "Pan", because your eye goes immediately to the face, and its simple profile. Then you notice the hand, a blur of music and movement.


I wasn't suppose to take any pictures inside, but I did finally get one, of the artist's wife and children.  Again, in this your eye goes immediately to the children playing.  It is only later

that you see the mother, reclining behind them.
Some of Picasso's art seems so simple that we might imagine it to be spontaneous or accidental. But there can be no doubt that it is very carefully planned... Picasso style.

I have started to think that we should make our life plans the way Picasso did his art:
Focus on the important.  Deliberately leave yourself open to a bit of mystery, don't try to plan every detail.  Be willing to try new and unexpected ways.  And deliberately plan something that, to others, looks totally unrealistic.

Much of nature is unplanned, unrehearsed, and very unpredictable... but we find it beautiful just the same.