Picasso

By Patrick O'Brian

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In a word: sweeping

In a sentence: the life of Pablo Picasso from his birth to his death

Synopsis: This is a biography of Picasso the man in terms of chronology. There is no particular emphasis on Picasso’s art, relationships, accomplishments, or individual periods. Rather, it gives a play-by-play of his life in all of these aspects.

Reactions: This biography was an exceptional all-encompassing deep-dive into the life and art of Pablo Picasso. Picasso is an artist of widely diverse periods, deep experimentation,

vibrant social life, and deep connections with places. His art represents all of these things, and each of these things are distinct from his art.

It is my opinion that the usefulness of context in art is limited, and that to truly understand any artist all one must do is examine their art. Art is the most honest expression of an artist, but, on the other hand, one can’t entirely separate any human from the circumstances in which he lives. This applies just as well to Picasso as it would to any artist, great or small. This biography gives a well-researched, honest summary of the life of Picasso, what actually happened, what was important to him, and which works he created to mirror these things.

One thing I particularly appreciated about Picasso is that O’Brian takes pains to judge and interpret individual artworks as little as possible. Rather, he describes their physical nature, and puts them on the timeline of Picasso’s life. He will harken you back to past uses of certain imagery, but never makes any claims to be a professional art critic or expert in this field. In your investigation of this book, I encourage you to keep your internet handy so that you can examine copies of the various works mentioned in the book, and formulate for yourself your own decisions about their feeling, implications, and even success at your discretion. What’s the point, after all, of exploring the life of an artist without exploring his art as well?

Towards the end, however, particularly from the Francoise Gilot period onward, I believe O’Brian’s bias against Picasso’s sexual companions increasingly got in the way of honest assessments of the impacts of these relationships. O’Brian clearly has an extreme admiration for Picasso as both an artist and a man, and with that naturally comes an aversion to anyone who caused him pain or harm. In fact, O’Brian has a clear loathing for Gilot that harmed his credibility as a biographer in my eyes, and, if anything, made me want to read Gilot’s biography (Life with Picasso by Francoise Gilot) as a comparison of their time together.

As a great lover of Picasso’s work, I found this biography incredibly useful to understand Picasso, his background, and the passions which lead to his work. He was a revolutionary artist in a myriad of ways, and this biography provided me the information to formulate a deeper appreciation for his particular periods and innovations in the world of visual arts. In reading Picasso, I also gained a deeper sense of the man and the controversies surrounding him and his work. My personal conclusion after reading this biography is that Picasso simply lived too long. If he had only survived as long as Raphael, Fitzgerald, or even JFK when he died, we could speculate his potential for success into infinity. However, since the world saw exactly what Picasso was capable of, it left him open to incredible judgement. I urge you to examine his art, (read this biography), and judge for yourself.

Read if: you wish to learn about Picasso, his life, or the evolution of his art.