PABLO PICASSO
LET me say at the beginning that I do not
believe in art criticism, and the
more especially when it is concerned with
painting.
I grant that everyone bas the right to
express their opinion in art matters,
to applaud, or disapprove, according to
their own personal way of seeing
and feeling; but I hold that they should do
so without assuming any authority,
and without pretending to possess the
absolute truth, or even a relative one;
and also that they should not base their
judgments on established rules, upon
the pretense th.at they arc consecrated by
use, and by the criterion of high
authority.
Between a civil or a penal judge and a
critic there is a great difference. The
judge judges according to the law, but does
not make the law. He has to
submit himself to the fetter and the spirit
of the law, though it might conflict
with his person.al opinions, because that
law is an absolute rule of conduct,
dictated by society, to which all have to submit.
But art is free, it has never
bad, it has not, and will never have a
legislature, in spite of the Academies;
and every artist has the right to interpret
nature as he pleases, or as he can,
leaving to the public the liberty to
applaud or condemn theoretically.
Every critic is a priest of a dogma, of a
system; and condemns implacably
what he finds to be out of his faith, a faith
not reasoned but imposed.
He never stops to consider the personality
of the artist whose work be is judging,
to investigate what his tendencies are,
what his purpose is, or what efforts
he made to attain his object, and to what
Point he has realized his program.
I have devoted my life to the study of art,
principally fainting an<l sculpture.
I believe I have seen all that is worth
seeing, and have never dared
pass sentence on a work declaring it good
even if signed by the most renowned
artist; nor declare it bad, though it bears
the name of a person totally unknown.
At the most, I dare s-ay that at please. or
displeases me, and to express the
personal motives of my impressions.
Scholastic criticism has never profited
anyone; on the contrary, it has
always restrained the spirit of a creator;
it has always discouraged, humiliated,
and killed those who have bad the weakness
to take it into consideration.
Each epoch has had its artists, and must
have its art, as each also has its
men of science and its science; and any one
who intends to oppose a dike to
the flood-tide of human genius is perverse
or a fool.
This love for the dogma, the tendency of
the academy to enchain to
suffocate and to vilify, has greatly
damaged the countries in which it has
prevailed. This has been the cause of delay
in the progress of art in Spain;
and on account of this system we see the
Spanish artists, those of persona
inspiration and haughty spirit, perish
there, or emigrate to Pans, looking for a
better atmosphere. For, though it is true
that there is in Paris also an
academic sect that suffocates; one which
proclaims ·that outside of itself there
is no salvation, nevertheless art bas
succeeded in conquering an independence
which permits all sorts of attempts at new
expression.
Art has not died in Spain, or not at least
among Spaniards. What is
beginning to die it the old tradition, or
rather the intransigent traditionalism.
And the best proof of it is the notable
number of Spanish painters living in
Paris, who prosper there, gaining enviable
fame, and who at the end will
figure among the French glories, instead of
adding illustrious names to the
already extensive Spanish catalogue.
I intend to make these artists known to the
American world, describing
the work of each one of them, not as I see,
feel, and understand it, but as each
one of them has conceived it.
I want to tell at present of Pablo Picasso,
from Malaga, who finds himself
in the first rank among the innovators, a
man who knows what he wants and
wants what he knows, who has broken with all
school prejudices, has opened
for himself a wide path, and bas already
acquired that notoriety which is the
first step towards glory.
I do not know if he is known in Spain, and if
he is, whether they appreciate
his efforts and study his works. What I
know is that be is a Parisian personality,
which constitutes a glorious achievement.
I have studied Pitasso, both the artist and
his work, which was not
difficult, for he is a sincere and
spontaneous man, who makes no mystery of his
ideals nor the method he employs to realize
them.
Picasso tries to produce with his work an
impression, not with the subject
but the manner in which he expresses it. He
receives a direct impression from
external nature, he analyzes, develops, and
translates it, and afterwards executes
it in his own particular style, with the
intention that the picture should be the
pictorial equivalent of the emotion
produced by nature. In presenting his
work he wants the spectator to look for the
emotion or idea generated from the
spectacle and not the spectacle itself.
From this to the psychology of form there
is but one step, and the artist
has given it resolutely and deliberately.
Instead of the physical manifestation
he seeks in form the psychic one, and on
account of his peculiar temperament,
his physical manifestations inspire him
with geometrical sensations.
When he paints he does not limit himself to
taking from an object only
those planes which the eye perceive&,
but deals with all those which, according
to him, constitute the individuality of
form; and with his peculiar fantasy he
develops and transforms them. And this
suggests to him new impressions,
which he manifests with new forms, because
from the idea of the representation
of a being; a new being is born, perhaps
different from the first one, and
this becomes the represented being.
Each one of his paintings is the
coefficient of the impressions that form
bas performed in his spirit, and in these
paintings the public must see the
realization of an artistic ideal, and must
judge them by the ab$tl'3ct sensation
they produce, without trying to look for
the factors that entered into the composition of the final result. As it is not
his purpose to perpetuate on the canvas
an aspect of external nature, by which to
produce an artistic impression,
but to represent with the brush the
impression he has directly received from
nature., synthesized by his fantasy, he
does not put on the canvas the remembrance
of a past sensation. but describes a
present sensation.
Picasso has a different conception of perspective
from that in use by the
traditionalists. According to his way of thinking
and painting, form must be
represented in its intrinsic value, and not
in relation to other objects. He does
not think it right to paint a child in size
far larger than that of a man, just
because the child is in the foreground and
one wants to indicate that the man
is some distance away from it. The painting
of distance, to which the academic
school subordinates everything, seem.t to
him an element which might be of
great importance in a topographical plan or
in a geographical map, but false
and useless in a work of art.
In his paintings perspective does not
exist: in them there are nothing but
harmonies suggested by form, and registers
which succeed themselves, to compose
a general harmony which fills the rectangle
that constitutes the picture.
Following the same philosophical system in
dealing with light, as the
one he follows in regard to form, to him
color does not exist, but only the
effects of light. This produces in matter
certain vibrations, which produce in
the individual certain impressions. From
this it results, that Picasso's painting
presents to us the evolution by which light
and form have operated in
developing themselves in his brain to
produce the idea, and his composition
is nothing but the synthetic expression of
his emotions.
Those who have studied Egyptian art without
Greco-Roman prejudices,
know that the sons of the Nile and the
desert sought in their works the realization
of an ideal conceived by meditation before
the mysterious river and by
ecstasy before the imposing solitude, and
that is why they transformed matter
into form and gave to substance the reflection
of that which exists only in
essence. Something of this sort happens in
Picasso's work, which is the artistic
representation of a psychology of form in
which he tries to represent in essence
what seems to exist only in substance.
And, likewise, just as when we contemplate
part of a Gothic cathedral we
feel an abstract sensation, produced by an
ensemble of geometrical figures,
whose significance we do not perceive and
whose real form we do not understand
immediately, so the paintings of Picasso
have the tendency to produce
a similar effect, they compel the spectator
to forget the beings and objects which
are the base of the picture, and whose
representation is the highest state to
which his fantasy has been able to carry
them through a geometrical
evolution.
According to his judgment, all the races as
represented in their artistic
exponents, have tried to represent form
through a fantastic aspect, modifying
it to adapt it to the idea they wanted to
express.
And at the bottom, all of them have pursued
the same artistic ideal, with
a tendency similar to his own technique.
Marius De Zayas
LET me say at the beginning that I do not
believe in art criticism, and the
more especially when it is concerned with
painting.
I grant that everyone bas the right to
express their opinion in art matters,
to applaud, or disapprove, according to
their own personal way of seeing
and feeling; but I hold that they should do
so without assuming any authority,
and without pretending to possess the
absolute truth, or even a relative one;
and also that they should not base their
judgments on established rules, upon
the pretense th.at they arc consecrated by
use, and by the criterion of high
authority.
Between a civil or a penal judge and a
critic there is a great difference. The
judge judges according to the law, but does
not make the law. He has to
submit himself to the fetter and the spirit
of the law, though it might conflict
with his person.al opinions, because that
law is an absolute rule of conduct,
dictated by society, to which all have to submit.
But art is free, it has never
bad, it has not, and will never have a
legislature, in spite of the Academies;
and every artist has the right to interpret
nature as he pleases, or as he can,
leaving to the public the liberty to
applaud or condemn theoretically.
Every critic is a priest of a dogma, of a
system; and condemns implacably
what he finds to be out of his faith, a faith
not reasoned but imposed.
He never stops to consider the personality
of the artist whose work be is judging,
to investigate what his tendencies are,
what his purpose is, or what efforts
he made to attain his object, and to what
Point he has realized his program.
I have devoted my life to the study of art,
principally fainting an<l sculpture.
I believe I have seen all that is worth
seeing, and have never dared
pass sentence on a work declaring it good
even if signed by the most renowned
artist; nor declare it bad, though it bears
the name of a person totally unknown.
At the most, I dare s-ay that at please. or
displeases me, and to express the
personal motives of my impressions.
Scholastic criticism has never profited
anyone; on the contrary, it has
always restrained the spirit of a creator;
it has always discouraged, humiliated,
and killed those who have bad the weakness
to take it into consideration.
Each epoch has had its artists, and must
have its art, as each also has its
men of science and its science; and any one
who intends to oppose a dike to
the flood-tide of human genius is perverse
or a fool.
This love for the dogma, the tendency of
the academy to enchain to
suffocate and to vilify, has greatly
damaged the countries in which it has
prevailed. This has been the cause of delay
in the progress of art in Spain;
and on account of this system we see the
Spanish artists, those of persona
inspiration and haughty spirit, perish
there, or emigrate to Pans, looking for a
better atmosphere. For, though it is true
that there is in Paris also an
academic sect that suffocates; one which
proclaims ·that outside of itself there
is no salvation, nevertheless art bas
succeeded in conquering an independence
which permits all sorts of attempts at new
expression.
Art has not died in Spain, or not at least
among Spaniards. What is
beginning to die it the old tradition, or
rather the intransigent traditionalism.
And the best proof of it is the notable
number of Spanish painters living in
Paris, who prosper there, gaining enviable
fame, and who at the end will
figure among the French glories, instead of
adding illustrious names to the
already extensive Spanish catalogue.
I intend to make these artists known to the
American world, describing
the work of each one of them, not as I see,
feel, and understand it, but as each
one of them has conceived it.
I want to tell at present of Pablo Picasso,
from Malaga, who finds himself
in the first rank among the innovators, a
man who knows what he wants and
wants what he knows, who has broken with all
school prejudices, has opened
for himself a wide path, and bas already
acquired that notoriety which is the
first step towards glory.
I do not know if he is known in Spain, and if
he is, whether they appreciate
his efforts and study his works. What I
know is that be is a Parisian personality,
which constitutes a glorious achievement.
I have studied Pitasso, both the artist and
his work, which was not
difficult, for he is a sincere and
spontaneous man, who makes no mystery of his
ideals nor the method he employs to realize
them.
Picasso tries to produce with his work an
impression, not with the subject
but the manner in which he expresses it. He
receives a direct impression from
external nature, he analyzes, develops, and
translates it, and afterwards executes
it in his own particular style, with the
intention that the picture should be the
pictorial equivalent of the emotion
produced by nature. In presenting his
work he wants the spectator to look for the
emotion or idea generated from the
spectacle and not the spectacle itself.
From this to the psychology of form there
is but one step, and the artist
has given it resolutely and deliberately.
Instead of the physical manifestation
he seeks in form the psychic one, and on
account of his peculiar temperament,
his physical manifestations inspire him
with geometrical sensations.
When he paints he does not limit himself to
taking from an object only
those planes which the eye perceive&,
but deals with all those which, according
to him, constitute the individuality of
form; and with his peculiar fantasy he
develops and transforms them. And this
suggests to him new impressions,
which he manifests with new forms, because
from the idea of the representation
of a being; a new being is born, perhaps
different from the first one, and
this becomes the represented being.
Each one of his paintings is the
coefficient of the impressions that form
bas performed in his spirit, and in these
paintings the public must see the
realization of an artistic ideal, and must
judge them by the ab$tl'3ct sensation
they produce, without trying to look for
the factors that entered into the composition of the final result. As it is not
his purpose to perpetuate on the canvas
an aspect of external nature, by which to
produce an artistic impression,
but to represent with the brush the
impression he has directly received from
nature., synthesized by his fantasy, he
does not put on the canvas the remembrance
of a past sensation. but describes a
present sensation.
Picasso has a different conception of perspective
from that in use by the
traditionalists. According to his way of thinking
and painting, form must be
represented in its intrinsic value, and not
in relation to other objects. He does
not think it right to paint a child in size
far larger than that of a man, just
because the child is in the foreground and
one wants to indicate that the man
is some distance away from it. The painting
of distance, to which the academic
school subordinates everything, seem.t to
him an element which might be of
great importance in a topographical plan or
in a geographical map, but false
and useless in a work of art.
In his paintings perspective does not
exist: in them there are nothing but
harmonies suggested by form, and registers
which succeed themselves, to compose
a general harmony which fills the rectangle
that constitutes the picture.
Following the same philosophical system in
dealing with light, as the
one he follows in regard to form, to him
color does not exist, but only the
effects of light. This produces in matter
certain vibrations, which produce in
the individual certain impressions. From
this it results, that Picasso's painting
presents to us the evolution by which light
and form have operated in
developing themselves in his brain to
produce the idea, and his composition
is nothing but the synthetic expression of
his emotions.
Those who have studied Egyptian art without
Greco-Roman prejudices,
know that the sons of the Nile and the
desert sought in their works the realization
of an ideal conceived by meditation before
the mysterious river and by
ecstasy before the imposing solitude, and
that is why they transformed matter
into form and gave to substance the reflection
of that which exists only in
essence. Something of this sort happens in
Picasso's work, which is the artistic
representation of a psychology of form in
which he tries to represent in essence
what seems to exist only in substance.
And, likewise, just as when we contemplate
part of a Gothic cathedral we
feel an abstract sensation, produced by an
ensemble of geometrical figures,
whose significance we do not perceive and
whose real form we do not understand
immediately, so the paintings of Picasso
have the tendency to produce
a similar effect, they compel the spectator
to forget the beings and objects which
are the base of the picture, and whose
representation is the highest state to
which his fantasy has been able to carry
them through a geometrical
evolution.
According to his judgment, all the races as
represented in their artistic
exponents, have tried to represent form
through a fantastic aspect, modifying
it to adapt it to the idea they wanted to
express.
And at the bottom, all of them have pursued
the same artistic ideal, with
a tendency similar to his own technique.
Marius De Zayas
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