9October 11, 2018
Picasso and History
IV International Conference
Edward Quinn (1920-97). Picasso in his bedroom at ‘La Galloise’. Vallauris, 1954. Edward Quinn Archive. Photo: Edward Quinn, © edwardquinn.com
Picasso and History is the fourth edition of a series of conferences devoted to Pablo Picasso that, in previous years, have been held at the Musée National Picasso-Paris and the Museu Picasso in Barcelona, and which have provided a forum for the presentation of academic studies related to the artist and his work.
The nine decades of the artist’s life spanned several turbulent periods of modern history. The edition held at the Museo Picasso Málaga brought together more than twenty researchers whose papers explored the work and context of Pablo Picasso from a perspective far removed from the traditional formal, semiological and biographical approach, giving precedence over these approaches to research into the historical context and the repercussions of his work against that backdrop.
Picasso and History
To what extent is history ̶ social, economic, political and cultural ̶ reflected in Picasso’s paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints? How do cultural and historical constraints determine the way we perceive the artist? How have historical factors affected the way in which other artists have appropriated his legacy?
As a result of a wide range of languages, and the impact of his work on other artists in Europe, the United States, Latin America and Asia, Picasso is considered the first global artist. His long life was linked to times of great upheaval in different geographical locations, associated with the transformation of modernity. Picasso was no stranger to the confrontation between political ideologies, the struggle against colonialism, or the psychological effects of modernisation.
Through the authors’ research work, the book offers a different approach to Picasso’s work and provides us with the key to an interpretation from the present, linking this up with other intellectual traditions.
