Picasso Social And Cultural

Question 1

Technology

Answer 1

In Picassos time there was the biggest technology advance and Picasso believed that there was no need to paint realistically if a camera could do the exact same in less time. Therefore, in still life with chair caning, he pastes cheap printed oil cloth and paints around it, instead of painting the chair caning realistically himself

Question 2

Fast Changing world

Answer 2

Picasso was influenced by the fast changing world around him. The choppy, dynamic style of this painting shows his belief that art needs to advance with the modernising world. Hence, Picasso turned still life on its head by using various viewpoints and angles e.g. the bowl of the pipe is completely dislodged and shown from a birdseye view

Question 3

Other Artists

Answer 3

Picasso was influenced by other artists such as Cezanne. Cezanne influenced them by simplifying his paintings using geometric planes and brush strokes in order to radically move away from the art of realism. In still life with chair caning Picasso furthers this by flattening and dissecting 3D forms such as the glass into 2D geometric ones

Question 4

Everyday objects

Answer 4

The use of collage in this still life shows his effort to join art with the everyday chaos of the modern world. The idea behind this effort was that Picasso believed the beauty of modernity is found in objects of low culture such as oil cloth rather than high culture objects of previous styles.

Question 5

Braque

Answer 5

Picasso was influenced by his friend Braque. Picasso had a competitive relationship with Braque who the first to use collage in his paintings. He used wood grain printed oil cloth. However, Picasso took it further and gained more popularity from it. For instance, by using collage in this still life is typical of Picasso trying to produce something new and ‘outdo’ his friend. This demonstrates great confidence as he isn’t afraid to push boundaries