Picasso: The Artist's Studio

About this book

For Picasso the artists studio was the center of the world the crossroads of all that was occurring in his life and in contemporary society. His paintings of the studio range across nearly every aspect of his art from portraits of himself his friends lovers and children to commentaries on political events evocations of great artists of the past and allegories of creativity itself. This stunning book focuses on Picassos depictions of the artists studio in paintings drawings and prints throughout his career showing how he found there his most profound expression of the creative process. Michael FitzGerald discusses Picassos devotion to the studio as a place where he learned his artistic skills as a social and intellectual center where he negotiated with dealers disputed with critics and seduced lovers as a site for exploration of the imagination and of essential themes of life and as a place where he confronted the passing of life. The major part of the book analyzes numerous relevant paintings and drawings showing how they relate to developments in Picassos art or life and to his oeuvre as a whole. William Robinson then focuses on the famed painting La Vie a scene of an artist and model that is transformed into an allegory of sexual desire and social respectability.