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For more info:

The Picasso in Me

4/21/2015

8 Comments

 
Picture
When friends turned down free tickets to Arizona Theatre Company's production of A Weekend with Picasso, I started to worry that I wouldn’t like the play myself. After all, Picasso was misogynistic, stubborn, and opinionated. He was also a genius. So was Herbert Siguenza, the actor who wrote the play based on Picasso’s writing and performs it in ninety nonstop minutes of artistic inspiration.

 Picasso may have been arrogant and difficult. I’ve had coworkers like that, but they weren’t inspirational. Picasso was—and still is. The play takes us through an imaginary weekend of the artist’s life as he paints, reflects, philosophizes, and paints some more. He does this in English, Spanish, and occasionally French while dancing, creating, and even dreaming.

 During the play, I probably annoyed my neighbors. I was busy writing down key phrases such as “Inspiration doesn’t exist, or if it does, it must find you working.” How true. It might be nice to sit around waiting for the “right” moment to write, but most artists wouldn’t get much done that way. Neither would most authors.

 Picasso also explained his most important raison d’être: “I want you to discover something [through art] you would have never discovered without me.” People might like his art or not. That’s not the point. Instead we should consider what it makes us feel or think. We should consider how we respond or how we resist.

 What we should never resist is creativity itself. I’ve always thought of Picasso as strictly an artist, but for a couple of years, he dedicated himself to poetry. (Since he was going through a costly divorce, he joked that he had no incentive to paint anyway.)  He took on this new challenge when he was the same age I am now. Does that mean I should start painting?

 Here’s another gem: “If your painting does not go wrong, it will never be good.” Honestly, it’s like writing. (Remember Peter Elbow’s wonderful proclamation: “I have to start by putting all the wrong words in all the wrong sentences…..”)

 I might not have liked Picasso as a man (almost certainly not!), but as a writer, I’m inspired. As he says, “Action is the foundation to all success.” Do I live each day in abandon to my art? At this point I do not. This is a point worth pondering.

 At the beginning of the play Picasso explains that every child is uniquely special. We all have our own passions and gifts. What counts is how we use them. As he explains, “Your work must be the ultimate seduction, the ultimate pleasure.” Indeed, if I haven’t written on a single day, I feel that I missed out, that I didn’t do enough to make progress, that I wasted my time. Sometimes such pangs of guilt are painful, but they’re also motivational. I have books to write. This takes time. I need to keep moving.

Picasso lived his life on his own terms, but he had a higher calling, that of the artist. The spirit of creation grabbed him and never let go. His vast output of work has inspired and sometimes horrified legions of art students and museum goers. As Picasso says, unapologetically, “I lived my life in broad daylight.” Instead I would focus on the first two words. Pablo was no saint, but he really, really lived. It’s no accident that my favorite Picasso painting, created in Antibes, is “Joie de vivre” or “Joy of Life.”

Long live the artist in all of us.

A Weekend with Picasso is playing in Tucson through Sunday at the Temple of Art and Music; then it moves to Phoenix. Check out details at http://www.arizonatheatre.org/our-shows/a-weekend-with-pablo-picasso/ Two performances were even offered in Spanish, giving special flair to the Spaniard's speech; two more will be offered in Phoenix.


For a list of my novels, please see http://www.drransdellnovels.com
. I haven’t written about any painters—yet.

8 Comments
Mary Hardin
4/21/2015 03:52:22

You make a really good point, dr, about separating the appreciation of a person's work from judgment about their character. It is hard to do that - somehow we all want the most successful artists to be paragons of virtue, too! Thanks for alerting me to this play; I think it's one I'd like to see.

Reply
D.R. Ransdell
4/22/2015 04:21:45

Mary,

I often have a hard time separating those two, esp. when it comes to actors or athletes. I don't expect them to be paragons of virtue, but when they don't seem like nice people.... ay ay ay!

As to the play, you should go! The show is quite good. The actor is amazing! I actually watched the show last night in Spanish, which was way fun too. It ends this weekend.

Reply
Elise Holt
4/21/2015 13:25:16

Very inspirational. I know these great geniuses seized life by the throat and really lived. I like the quotes you include. They make me feel a bit quilty that I am not getting more done with my time here! I agree it is also important to be able to appreciate someone's contribution to life, even if you find some aspects of their character reprehensible.

Reply
D.R. Ransdell
4/22/2015 04:23:54

Ah.... Perhaps you're in a transitional period. But you're enjoying what you do, right? That's the biggest factor. Picasso (in the play) said that your job should be as much fun as what you do in leisure time. For most people, that's a dream. So the trick is how to make the dream a reality.

Reply
Sandra Besso
4/23/2015 00:40:51

Deep thoughts! They make one feel guilty about not living up to one's potential. Too many distractions get in the way of achievements. Just excuses? As you point out, achievement takes commitment and effort. I hope more people take advantage of the opportunity to see the production of A Weekend with Picasso for the play sounds inspirational.

Reply
DR Ransdell
4/24/2015 17:38:41

One of Picasso's last lines in the play was that even if people criticized him, at least people can't say he didn't work. The same goes for me!

Reply
Amy link
1/9/2021 08:06:31

Good reading this postt

Reply
Junk Removal Warren link
5/27/2024 16:15:14

Hello, nice post.

Reply



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