Pablo Picasso: The Aphrodite Period (1924-1936) (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781789760088)

As early as the ancient Greeks, goddesses served as Muses for artistic creation. In essence, a creatively charged energy inspired the artist, leaving a unique and recognizable mark on the artwork. Picassos relationships with the women in his life was deeply formative, and he often represented them as Muses. He was particularly unabashed in the declaration of his feelings to one of them, Marie-Therese Walter, his youthful mistress of 1927. But at that point Picasso was still married to Olga Khokhlova, thus forced to practice the utmost discretion. His marriage to Olga made him increasingly frustrated with her imposed bourgeois expectations. As a release from this marital burden, Marie-Therese was ever present in his work, often portrayed as Aphrodite with a wreath in her hair, a basket of flowers and fruits by her side. Marie-Therese was the Dream the Muse. This fertile period coincided with the strong influence of surrealism which helped liberate Picassos psyche from the
straitjacket that Olgas life


Author: Enrique Mallen
ISBN-10: 1789760089
ISBN-13: 9781789760088
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/14/2019
Pages: 400
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.30w x 0.90d

About the Author

Dr Enrique Mallen, Professor at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), is Director and General Editor of the Online Picasso Project (OPP), a digital catalogue raisonne on Pablo Picasso used by Picasso scholars throughout the world. He has written extensively on Picasso's Cubist and Surrealist periods, as well as on Picasso's literary writings.