Day 11 – Rose Colored Glasses for Mr. Picasso, and, What in the World are Saltimbanques?

So, yesterday I talked about when Pablo had the Blues. Today I looked at work from his Rose Period. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso%27s_Rose_Period).  The Rose Period found Picasso painting with orange and pink. (Pink has recently started to become one of my favorite colors, and I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s because I have a little girl now and pink has become a pretty much inescapable part of my daily life.) Apparently, during this time, Picasso painted more cheery paintings of acrobats and harlequins- which in France were called “saltimbanques.” And, in case you’re wondering (I was), a harlequin is a comedic character in checkered pattern clothing – which Picasso adopted as a personal symbol. This vaguely sounds to me like clowns, which I was terrified of as a child and which I still think are pretty creepy.

A little bit of juicy gossip: Picasso met one of his mistresses, Fernande Olivier, during this time, and many of the Rose Period paintings feature her. It was also during this time that Picasso met Matisse, who became a lifelong friend. The Rose Period lasted from 1904-1906, and, I must admit, despite my skepticism of all things Picasso and clown-like, I found some works I liked from this period. I blame the use of pink. Below, are two Rose Period works that I think are kind of neat.  I suppose, since Picasso painted SO many paintings, he’s bound to have some that I like. I never realized before I started this blog just how prolific Picasso was. I guess the lesson is to not say you don’t like something you don’t know much about. Although, I reserve the right to dislike Cubism and Picasso’s works during the Cubism Period.

Picasso - Acrobat and Young Harlequin

Picasso - Family of Saltimbanques

Xoxo,

Diana