Art-O-Gram: Picasso-the artist, life and love-scene 4

Picasso's life and his loved ones - especially in relation to Picasso's relationship with and to women an endless topic, on which serious artists and excited feminists, outraged petty bourgeois and imaginative cookbook authors, confused social scientists and envious boulevard journalists from probably every conceivable viewing angle.

The artist lifestyle and his relationships with women have already been dissected thoroughly enough, and it is probably not that important who shares why and which bed. Nevertheless, a overall view of Picasso does not quite avoid taking a look at his lifestyle and love - both are puzzle parts of the "People Picassos" , both also influenced his art.

Therefore, a sketch in 7 scenes follows the private side of the artist - an intensely lived life.

Scene 4: The not so safe "port of marriage"

1917 - 1927 (1935, 1955): Olga Stepanowna Chochlowa and the giant in resolution

The early death of his 30-year-old love Eva Gouel of tuberculosis had badly shaken Picasso, he had looked for consolation for other women and has been looking for a permanent companion since then.

As early as May 1916, Picasso invited by Jean Cocteau to design design and decor for the parade ballet. "Parade - Ballet Réaliste" was to be a ballet in an act, composed of a topic from Cocteau and with music by Erik Satie, for Sergei Djagilew's "Ballets Russes".

Picasso agreed to participate in August 1916 that he should design the stage design, the costumes and the stage curtain. In February 1917 he traveled to Rome to join Cocteau of the group of Ballet Russes to join Djagilew and Stravinski and prepare the performance.

In this preparation, Picasso a lot with Sergei Djagilew and also got to know the ballerinas of the “Ballets Russes” , including Ukrainian Olga Chochlowa .

Here either the love of precision in reporting is full of or a Picasso friend does not trust his favorite artist, in any case Olga Chochlowa is once a prima ballerina of the "Ballet Russes" and once "third-class but beautiful choir dancer of the ensemble" ( Mirrors 52/1956, www . mirrors .

Do you think whoever you want is sure that Picasso and Olga fell in love. Olga Chochlowa left the ballet troop (after the scandal described the same as the premiere may not be too heavy with the premiere) and only lived with Picasso in Spain and then in Paris.

An premiere with a violent start and sarcastic aftermath

As mentioned right now, the ballet caused a hearty scandal when it was premiered on May 18, 1917: that of the Parisian "Théâtre du Châtelet" rather classic cost of "Parade" was presented with a very unusual artistic work for the time, but this was not the main reason that the irritation in a tumult was excited with vocal expressions.

Rather, the French public was traumatized by the graduating news about the "Hell of Verdun" : On February 21, 1916, German troops attacked the French fortress Verdun, the "Battle of Verdun" ended on December 19, 1916, without war -decisive results, but with six -digit losses on both sides.

Verdun had united the nation and put an abrupt end of all liberality, everything was "not French" to be attributed to the enemy, new art with the decisive participation of Russians (Sergei Djagilew and his Ballet, Léonide Massine) and a Spaniard (Picasso) overwhelmed the audience, including the French artists Jean Cocteau and Erik Satie involved in the performance Avant -Gardist artists from Montmartre closer than the guards of the nation, the two Cubist Paris galleries were led by Germans, all enemies, the cubist ballet was classified as a treason.

"De Marche d'un Poete" Cocteau described it about this in 1953 : The reason for the violence of the scandal was that the "Battle of Parade" had collapsed with the bloody battle for Verdun.

The premiere also had - from today's perspective more amusing - judicial aftermath: a bad critic of the music critic Jean Poueigh for Parade was answered by composer Satie with a postcard with the following text: "Monsieur et cher ami - vous êtes un cul, un cul sans musique! Drawn Erik Satie ").

Poueigh sued the composer that the police arrested Satie during the court hearing because he repeatedly "Cul!" ("Ass") screamed that the verdict gave him eight days in prison, which after the intervention of highly positioned friends was given on the condition that he could not be guilty for five years.

However, he rejected the advice of these friends to the critic, but he rejected his "good behavioral period" very quickly, with a "praise to the critics" presented publicly at a concert opening in April 1918, which means, among other things:

"Last year I gave several lectures on the intelligence and musicality among animals. Today I will talk about intelligence and musicality among critics. It is almost the same topic, with modifications, of course."

The whole speech in French can be read on incipit.fr/tag/erik-atie , in German translation it does not seem to be available.

Finally marriage, but the marriage is finally

Picasso had already expressed or considered marriage intentions to his women before Olga or pronounced marriage proposals, now he finally wanted to find the peace before the women in marriage.

On July 12, 1918, Pablo Picasso and Olga Chochlowa married in Paris, first the civil wedding in the town hall of the 7th arrangement, after which a magnificent church wedding was celebrated in the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Rue daru.

"Painter poet" and maid of Max Jacob as the only friend Picassos knew the importance of the orthodox rite of the three rounds around the altar, the bride and groom, while the witnesses kept golden crowns over their heads: Anyone who would first put their foot back on the altar carpet would take up the controlling position in their marriage - and the superstitious Max observed anxiously, How Olga Chochlowa did exactly.

He should be right with his bad premonitions:

Picasso's wife Olga was a person with great interest in "appearances in society", you had moved to Rue La Boetie, in an environment with antique shops and elegant art, Olga led the household and her order craze quickly left Picasso to work.

Picasso preferred to live on the Montmartre, he was just as annoying to parties and Diners in mode restaurants as Olga's order; When Olga became pregnant in the summer of 1920 and the slim and fit ballet dancer had a hard struggle with the changes in her body, the whole woman quickly became annoying.

Olga insisted that Picasso only made naturalistic portraits of her on which her face can be seen. In the beginning Picasso blended this instruction, and initially Olga also looked elegant and noble on the screen, as in the picture "Portrait of Olga in the Armchair" from 1917.

That changed quickly - when Olga wanted to be portrayed with a mantilla, he simply threw a bed whisper on her hair and already brought Olga's sore button and hardness onto the screen in this picture "Olga in A Mantilla", .

In "Deux Femmes Nues Assises" ("Two naked women") from 1920, Olga became a giant. As the giant pregnancy progresses, the giant became more and more inhumane, even inhumane, the father's fear of the woman's, consuming primeval power would probably call it.

In between, Olga Picasso then becomes a competent and concentrated, but completely unapproachable mother "Olga" "Head of a Woman (Olga Picasso)" , 1930/31, to Woman with (Olga), 1935, to "Head of a Woman (Olga Picasso).

If - according to Gertrude Stein - Picasso's Cubist pictures initially wanted to blow up their frames, Picasso was now obviously in the process of blowing up the golden framework built by his wife Olga.

Son Paolo was born in 1925, from 1927 he cheated on Olga Picasso with Marie-Thérèse Walter , when she gave birth to daughter Maya in 1935, he officially left his wife. She didn't want to divorce Picasso (he should have shared his entire assets with Olga after a marriage contract), they remained married to Olga Picasso's death in 1955.

Links to the pictures mentioned:

• "Portrait of Olga in the Armchair", 1917
• Woman with has (Olga), 1935
• Head of a Woman (Olga Picasso), 1935

Suitable for his marriage - or his liberation from this - a quote from Picasso :

Behind every big man there was always a loving woman, and it is a lot of truth in the saying that a man cannot be bigger than the woman he loves let him be. "

Picassos Further search for such a woman can be tracked in the next scenes of this article, more about the parts of Picasso's life that did not revolve around women, learn in the articles "Art-O-Gramm: Picasso-a long life for art", "Art-O-Gramm: Picasso-born" , "Art-O-Gramm: Picasso-an artist and three war ," Art-O-Gram: Picasso-famous art and her secret ", " Art-O-Gramm: "Picasso-a guarantee for top ranking" and "Art-O-Gramm: Picasso today".