Guitar and Violin by Pablo Picasso

Guitar and Violin by Pablo Picasso

Another masterpiece, which is located in Russia, namely in the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg is a masterpiece with the world name Violin and Guitar.

The painting was painted in the style of cubism, which Pablo Picasso was closely interested at that time. “Synthetic Cubism” – this is the direction in which work is attributed. This phase of cubism is characterized by contrast and decorativeness, most often in this manner still-lifes, posters or paintings are written, where the main characters are everyday objects and musical instruments. Ancestors of this trend were Brac and Picasso. They were so carried away by the search for new means of expressiveness that they began to use non-traditional materials in their works, such as sand, pieces of newspapers, ropes, scraps of wallpaper, etc.

In the period from 1912 to 1913, Picasso created a number of works, the main characters of which were musical instruments, however, the most famous is “Violin and Guitar”.

The space of the picture is dissected into many flat elements that are connected and interpenetrate into each other – patterns, fingerboard, violin “essays”, a piece of wallpaper, a fragment of a table, a barely perceptible hint to the glass, and here from the chaos of scattered elements still life is born, something musical impression.

As with any complex work, this picture is also interpreted in different ways, depending on one’s own understanding and attitude. Some see in her the soul of the instruments, tangible and sounding, others find more in it – a kind of illustration of a fragment of someone’s life, perhaps a musician, or maybe just a regular cafe or cabaret.

Calm color combinations do not distract from the perception of the form, and the built construction gives rise to a plot that sounds convincing and bold.

Not looking at many of the controversy surrounding Cubism and Picasso himself, praising odes or, conversely, annoying criticism, around this time the life of the artist dynamically went uphill – works in the new style brought him long-awaited fame and success, and with it material well-being.

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