Pablo Picasso-"Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman"

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was born on the 25^th of October 1881 and died on the 8^th of April 1973. In life he became a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer and poet who spent most of his adult life in France. A rather peculiar print by Picassos is “Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman”. This print was the last in the sequence of one hundred prints in his collection called The Vollard Suite. The series depicted mostly mythological characters and themes as well as allusions to Picasso’s relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walther. The print “Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman” is specifically based around Rembrandt’s engraving Jupiter and Antiope which was produced in 1659. The print itself is an aquatint and sugar lift etching with engraving on copper in black, on ivory laid paper. It measures in at 340mm x 445mm. Some people say that this print was based around Picasso and his wife of ten years Marie-Thérèse Walther. Faun who possibly represented Picasso and Antiope his wife. In Greek mythology, Antiope was the daughter of the King of Thebes (Nycteus). Zeus known as Jupiter in roman mythology was attracted to Antiopes’ beauty and disguised himself as a half human creature who had the horns, legs and hooves of a goat known as a faun in roman mythology. In my opinion I personally don’t like this piece. I think my opinion is mainly based around the subject matter. In most works of art I like the fact of not completely understanding why it is, what it is but the whole story around this print, I just don’t like and particularly understand.

Futurism

Futurism

Futurism originally began in Italy around the early 20th century and was an artistic and social movement. The movement emphasised and glorified themes associated with concepts of the future including technology, speed, things such as cars and aeroplanes, youth and even violence. Some key figures of the movement include Umberto Boccioni, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Gino Severini. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was the founder of the Futurist movement, Gino Severini a leading member and Umberto Boccioni (principal) one of the men who helped shape the revolutionary aesthetic of Futurism. These members along with many others aimed to glorify modernity. The Futurists used every single medium of art including painting, ceramics, sculpture, graphic design, industrial design, interior design, theatre, film, fashion, textiles, literature, music, architecture and gastronomy. They celebrated the advancement in technology and urban modernity. The members of the movement wanted to destroy the older forms of culture and demonstrate to everyone the beauty of modern life and the radical change in technology. Some very important works from the Futurism movement include Marinetti's Manifesto of Futurism, Boccioni's mad sculpture, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space and Balla's painting, Abstract Speed + Sound. The Futurism movement influenced worldwide art movements such as Art Deco, Constructivism, Surrealism and Dada.