Artist like Picasso were great publicists. His art was innovative, but not more than other of his contemporaries. But he was really good at self-promotion. This is why so many famous artists are such ass holes. It is a biased sample. But newspapers like to write and the population likes to read about narcissists. Narcissists make a good spectacle, even if they are horrible people doing horrible things.
But Picasso was not known for his poetry, so, people just do not value it. Even that it could be as good or as bad as his paintings.
Dali was such a narcissist asshole that his biographers are forced to admit that much of his stories about his inner thoughts and private actions are, at best, plausible to possible.
The Nevada Museum of Art had an exhibit last year about Picasso's ceramics, and I was amazed at how ... meh it all was. Apparently the market agrees with me, because you (yes you!) can buy a Picasso plate for just a few thousand dollars.
I especially took time out to see his work up close when it was exhibited in Delhi, thinking it would make more sense in real life than from books and photographs.
One canvas was literally a stick figure with very thin paint allowed to run down the “work.”
One of Picasso's acquaintances said that he would suck people's energy. When you hung out with him, you'd leave his presence feeling emotionally drained and frazzled. And the more Picasso drained you, the more enlarged he himself seemed to feel. It was like he stole people's energy and used it as fuel.
I heard that anecdote ten years ago and can never get it out of my mind.
BRIAN BLESSED has a great story about the time he met Pablo Picasso. It starts at 22:35 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH4cWoetw4s
https://youtu.be/ZH4cWoetw4s?si=VpI7STkVdquBuIu_&t=1355
Artist like Picasso were great publicists. His art was innovative, but not more than other of his contemporaries. But he was really good at self-promotion. This is why so many famous artists are such ass holes. It is a biased sample. But newspapers like to write and the population likes to read about narcissists. Narcissists make a good spectacle, even if they are horrible people doing horrible things.
But Picasso was not known for his poetry, so, people just do not value it. Even that it could be as good or as bad as his paintings.
Dali was such a narcissist asshole that his biographers are forced to admit that much of his stories about his inner thoughts and private actions are, at best, plausible to possible.
The Nevada Museum of Art had an exhibit last year about Picasso's ceramics, and I was amazed at how ... meh it all was. Apparently the market agrees with me, because you (yes you!) can buy a Picasso plate for just a few thousand dollars.
Picasso prints are relatively common, and not terribly expensive.
I especially took time out to see his work up close when it was exhibited in Delhi, thinking it would make more sense in real life than from books and photographs.
One canvas was literally a stick figure with very thin paint allowed to run down the “work.”
“Meh” would have been high praise.
One of Picasso's acquaintances said that he would suck people's energy. When you hung out with him, you'd leave his presence feeling emotionally drained and frazzled. And the more Picasso drained you, the more enlarged he himself seemed to feel. It was like he stole people's energy and used it as fuel.
I heard that anecdote ten years ago and can never get it out of my mind.
Some of his poetry makes sense if you know what his personal life was like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso#Personal_life