Product Description

This publication features new texts by esteemed Picasso biographer John Richardson, contemporary artist Jeff Koons, and scholars Dakin Hart and Memory Holloway. Additionally, the catalogue includes an imagined conversation between Roberto Otero and Picasso, an essay by Hélène Parmelin, and all texts originally included in the four catalogues from Picasso’s Avignon exhibitions in 1970 and 1973, written by Christian Zervos, Rafael Alberti, and René Char.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #139986 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-22
• Released on: 2009-04-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 300 pages

Review
An extensive monograph dedicated to the late works of Pablo Picasso, focusing on more than 100 paintings and prints completed between 1962 and 1972.

Customer Reviews

Was late Picasso really a joke? Maybe not so...
This is a hefty volume which accompanies the museum-quality exhibition of seldom-seen works from Picasso's late phase (1967-1972)held at the Gagosian Gallery in NYC until June 2009. It starts with an interesting essay by Picasso's best biographer, John Richardson (who curated the exhibition), whose aim is to show how important this late phase is in the context of the artist's entire career. One may not agree with Richardson's conclusion that the late works constitute the apex of Picasso's oeuvre insofar as they were painted at a time when he was completely free of any constraint and able to express his feelings and convey his message in a bolder way than ever before, yet this essay undoubtedly sheds new light on this oft-derided body of works.

Richardson's text is followed by a short article by Jeff Koons who delivers his own views on the Spanish master.

These introductory essays are followed by a trove of photographs showing the ageing Picasso in his surroundings at La Californie and La Croix de Vie in Mougins, in the South of France (his last two homes). These photographs are mixed with illustrations of old-master's works (Hals, Goya, Rembrandt, etc) which, supposedly inspired the series of the Musketeers. These latter illustrations are unfortunately of a very bad quality (often blurred and murky, especially the Rembrandts) and some legends need editing: the notorious "Man with the Golden Helmet" is, for example, given as a Rembrandt whereas it is no longer considered a work by his hand (even though it is still a great painting...).

Then come the many full-page colored illustrations of Picasso's Musketeers which are of a much better quality and even allow a glimpse into Picasso's brushwork technique.

On the whole, a valuable -though far from perfect- publication that gives new insight on the greatest painter of the XXth century.

If You Love Late Picasso
If you like late Picasso, then you're going to love this book. I do. What I liked best about this book was that it published numerous color works I had never seen before -- and that is hard to do, because I am one major late Picasso aficionado. And these are not the best works or extremely well known works. These are the ones Picasso would paint in a day -- or much less. With that, you see the raw artistry of these paintings. Do they all rock your world? No. But together, you feel the intensity, fever, and urgency of creation that Picasso knew in his last days, as he felt death slowly twisting and suffocating his near century old heart. Great book!

excellent service
The price and the product arrived quickly and in excellent condition. I am happy to have the books. MJ