Surreal Artist Comparison

Surreal Artists

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20^th century. He was born on October 25. 1881 and died on April 8, 1973. Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain. He was the creator of Cubism. Picasso was an expatriate, sculptor, printmaker, ceramist and a stage designer. Most of his life, he devoted to art. Picasso was not that bright of a student in school, be he showed a strong talent for drawing at a young age. His father taught him to draw and paint, and by the age of 13, he was more skilled than his father. At 14 years old, he moved to Barcelona, Spain with his family and attended the School of Fine Arts. At 16 years old, he attended the Royal Academy of San Fernando in Madrid. Picasso did not enjoy these schools because they focused too much on classical methods. Picasso wanted to do something different. During the 20^th century, Picasso moved to Paris, France and opened his own studio. During this time period, Picasso created a lot of blue and green art work that showed scenes of poverty and isolation. In 1905, Picasso was crazy in love with Fernande Olivier. His art work showed his feelings; they were exclusively in rose tones. In 1907, Picasso did something really different. He painted 5 nude prostitutes with distorted, geometric objects. This was the start of Cubism. Cubist paintings consist of odd objects in abstract form with crazy color combinations. Then came the Classical Period which consists of his works affiliated with the WW1. In 1927, Picasso started a new movement known as Surrealism which is known as the artistic manifestation of which was a product of his own Cubism. Picasso painted in blacks and greys to show the horrors of the war. One of his paintings was the “Guernica”.

Florence Henri

Florence Henri was a photographer and an artist. She was born on June 28, 1893 in New York. She grew up in Europe and studied in Rome. In 1925, she moved to Paris and started painting. Her photography is very avant-garde style. She became a member of the Cercle et Carre group and opened her own profession photo studio in 1928. She did a lot of portraits. Henri's prop of choice was the mirror -- using the common object as a surrealist tool to disrupt perception, disorient the viewer and multiply her subject matter into infinity ambiguity. Her photographs, which included self portraits, compositional still lifes, artist portraits, nudes, photomontages, photo collages, were often reminiscent of Cubist paintings, with disjointed reflections complicating the space so even straight forward depictions become uncanny meditations.

Somewhat associated with her fascination with mirrors, Henri also toyed with her own identity, revamping her persona with through costumes, makeup and pose with every shot. "It's obvious that self-portraits have something to do with a search for identity but Henri's are particularly tilted that way," William Wilson, the erstwhile Los Angeles Times art critic, wrote in 1992. "In one she saw herself as a bohemian tomboy, in the next she's an earth-mother peasant in a babushka. It was fairly easy to lose track of oneself in the floating world of the international avant-garde, especially if you were a woman and an artist." (Huffington Post)

Pablo Picasso

Title: Girl Before  A Mirror

Date: March 1932

Description: This is a painting of a girl who is looking into the mirror and looking at her reflection. There are a lot of different geometric shapes and vibrant colors that make this painting visually appealing. The background has a rhombus pattern with red, yellow, and green color combinations. The girl standing is different colors than the reflection of herself.

Analysis: There is no focal point because there are so many things going on. My eyes are running all over the picture. The colors and shapes are very vibrant. The background is a lot brighter and the reflection of the girl in the mirror is darker.

Interpretation: This piece is showing 2 sides of Marie Therese Walter. The woman standing outside the mirror is representing the woman when she is all dolled up. The reflection of her in the mirror shows her at night without all the makeup and her hair out. When she looks at herself in the mirror, she sees and old woman. This shows she is insecure and sees all her flaws.

Judgement: I feel this painting was a success. The meaning is understood easily and is very visually appealing. I really like the colors and the shapes Picasso used in the painting. 

Florence Henri

Title: Window 

Year: 1929 

Description: This is a very simple picture of a window with a little view of the apartments. The photograph is in sepia color.

Analysis: This photograph shows leading lines. The lines are leading from the top to the bottom. There is also reflection because the mirror reflects the outside image. This image also shows informal balance because if this photo was sliced in half, they wouldn't be perfectly same on both sides. This image was taken from slight worm's eye view, very slight. 

Interpretation: This image is showing simplicity. Henri always makes use of a mirror in her photograph. In my opinion, I think this image is representing peace, tranquility, and simplicity. It’s showing the calmness of living in an apartment and relaxing.

Judgement: I like this photograph because of the sepia tone it has. It gives it a vintage touch. The photo evokes a cozy/ simple feeling. I like Florence Henri’s style because she does a lot of reflection photography. I like the angle it was shot it because it gives the image a sort of depth.

These 2 artists have very different styles as you can see. Pablo Picasso paintings consist of a lot of  vibrant shapes and geometric shapes. Henri's photo's are mostly black and white or neutral toned images. She does a lot of portraits for women and uses mirrors in her photography. Florence Henri photography is a lot more simple compared to Pablo Picasso's vivacious paintings. Both artists express how they feel in their works of art.