"It happened all too fast,
they came to love and they came to last.."
"There she goes again, advertising how we should all believe in the prospect of hopeless romance". I can hear you all thinking it, but honestly, you know we all believe in it. For as long as art has been around, artists have been inspired by many things, most notably in this post, their muses. I love the idea that you can be so mesmerised by someone, that they heavily influence your creative outlet.
Regardless of how much you may be interested in art, chances are you know who Pablo Picasso is. Picasso was a bit of a player, never without a muse, moving from woman to woman, never alone.
First was Fernande Olivier (1904-1912), despite being married, she was involved with Picasso for 7 years. Olivier eventually left him after he took an interest in Eva Gouel (1912-1915). Unfortunately Picasso was devastated by Gouel's early death when she was 30. Although he created works incorporating the words 'I love Eva', that did not deter him from being unfaithful during her illness. Picasso was designing the ballet 'Parade' in 1917, when he met ballerina Olga Khokhlova (1917-1927). They married a year later, with Khokhlova bearing Picasso's son. In 1927, Picasso (then 46) met 17 year old Marie-Thérèse Walter (1927-1936), who lived in a flat opposite his marital home with Khokhlova. Picasso had a daughter with Walter whilst still married, with their relationship unknown by Khokhlova until Walter's pregnancy. Walter's relationship with Picasso ended when he fell in love with Dora Maar (1936-1944), a year after their daughter was born. Walter's love for Picasso was so deep, that she hung herself in 1977, four years after his death. Maar documented Picasso's Guernica painting development, becoming his 'companion and lover'. (1) Picasso left Maar for Françoise Gilot (1943-1953) when he was 62, and she was 22. He had two children with her, before she left him in 1953 due to his extra curricular activities with other women. In 1951, whilst still in a relationship with Gilot, Picasso began seeing Genevieve Laporte (1951-1953), however she left him the same year as Gilot, after declining his invitation to move with him. Jacqueline Roque (1953-1973) met Picasso in 1953, and remained with him for 20 years until his death, becoming his second wife. Roque became the most depicted muse in Picasso's art.
Despite his 'two wives and many mistresses'(2), Marie-Thérèse Walter is considered his greatest muse. Picasso met Walter when she stepped off a train. Being so young, Walter did not know who he was, so he took her into a bookshop to show her his paintings. Talking back over their encounter, Walter claimed "I was an innocent girl [...] I knew nothing - either of life or of Picasso... I had gone to do some shopping at the Galeries Lafayette, and Picasso saw me leaving the Metro. He simply took me by the arm and said: 'I am Picasso! You and I are going to do great things together."(3)
Despite his 'two wives and many mistresses'(2), Marie-Thérèse Walter is considered his greatest muse. Picasso met Walter when she stepped off a train. Being so young, Walter did not know who he was, so he took her into a bookshop to show her his paintings. Talking back over their encounter, Walter claimed "I was an innocent girl [...] I knew nothing - either of life or of Picasso... I had gone to do some shopping at the Galeries Lafayette, and Picasso saw me leaving the Metro. He simply took me by the arm and said: 'I am Picasso! You and I are going to do great things together."(3)
La Lecture (Reading), Completed January 1932. Oil on panel. 65.5cm x 51cm.
This work by Picasso is responsible for the inevitable end of his marriage to Khokhlova, who after seeing this work in an exhibition, realised the depiction was not of her. " Until La Lecture was painted [...] Walter had only appeared in Picasso's works [...] with her featured often embedded in the background of his paintings" (4) as their relationship wasn't public. Having met in 1927, their relationship had stayed under wraps for a long time. However Picasso "could no longer repress the creative impluse that his lover inspired, and over Christmas and New Year 1931 and '32, Marie-Thérèse emerged, for the first time, in fully recognisable, languorous, form."(3)
Le Reve (The Dream), Painted in one afternoon 24th January 1932. Oil on Canvas. 130cm x 97cm.
Private Collection of Steven A. Cohen.
Created when Picasso was 50, and Walter 22, critics have repeatedly commented on the work's erotic content. The argument for this work, is not, is it erotic in terms of what can be seen, but rather what Picasso's vision was when creating the work. The owner of Le Reve states "My take on the sexual aspect of the picture is if you are a 51-year-old man and you have a 21-year-old girlfriend, the fantasy is Picasso's, not hers. Any 51-year-old man would be wishing or hoping she was dreaming of his body parts." (5) This work was created the same year as La Lecture.
Jeune Fille Endormie, Completed 3rd February 1935. (Sold for £13.5 million in 2011).
Femme aux Cheveux Jaunes (Woman with Yellow Hair), 1931.
Woman in Hat and Fur Collar, Painted December 4th, 1937. Oil on Canvas. 61cm x 51cm.
Unlike the other images, this work's depiction is more detailed. "Picasso carries out an exhaustive analytic exercise in which the youth and personality of Marie-Thérèse are subjected to a thousand metamorphic transfigurations." (6) This portrait has an obvious difference in it's visual approach, is this due to it's creation being after the dissolution of Picasso's and Walter's relationship? His earlier depictions appear so soft, feminine, maybe even romanticised. Here, Walter's facial features show her from side on, and straight on, possibly a comment on different aspects of her character, and personality. Despite leaving Walter for Dora Maar, Picasso's portraits of Maar were never seen as soft as those of Walter.
Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, Created on a single day in 1932. Oil on Canvas. 162cm x 130cm. Private Collection (Currently on Long Term Loan to the Tate Modern).
Pablo Picasso with his painting of Marie-Thérèse Walter (Nude, Green Leaves and Bust). Cecil Beaton, 1933.
This portrait has been described as a representation of "feminine sexual submissiveness". (7) Is this due to the Walter's position? I think the 'submissive' quality of the work is not necessarily due to the position of Walter's body, but rather her inexperience and naivety, leading the way for her older man to teach her. Is this a sexual scenario? It does appear as such, but knowing the age of Picasso's much younger girlfriend, the position she is lay, and her nakedness on show, is the label an accurate one? If this were an artistic depiction in 2015, would the model be described at submissive? The feminine sexuality is probably more of an exaggerated subject by the artist himself.
Woman Before a Mirror, March 1932. Oil on Canvas. 162.3cm x 130.2cm.
Like Woman in Fur Hat and Collar, with two sides shown at once, this portrait is also shown from two vantage points. Picasso's vision of Walter, and her vision of herself. The lover and the beloved. The figure that stands facing the mirror has obvious contrasts to the reflective version. The reflective representation shows what lies inside Walter. Her insecurities, and fears, the inevitable loss of her youth, leading to Picasso's eventual infidelity, repeating history. Her insecurities playing out on canvas suggest that Picasso was observant of them, and in some way that part of her also inspired him. "[The] painting suggests both Walter's day-self and her night-self, both her tranquillity and her vitality, but also the transition from an innocent girl to a worldly woman aware of her own sexuality." (8) It's possible that her sexuality is the aspect that is seen as erotic in this work, rather than the obvious female nude.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you will most certainly know who Andy Warhol is. If not by name, or face, by reputation. Warhol took inanimate objects, and made them iconic. Think Campbell's Soup, and Brillo Pads.
(Warhol Examining Soup Tins, Image sent to me by S this week, Thanks babe!)
Despite being know for his prints, Warhol's muse inspired him in a completely different medium. Film.
"One person fascinated me more than anybody I had ever known [...] the fascination I experienced was probably very close to a certain kind of love."
Although an openly gay man, Warhol and Sedgwick were made for one another. Due to the accusations of earlier sexual abuse from her father, leading to her own sexual promiscuity, she craved affection and attention, and he was all to happy to provide it, without the expectation of sexual intimacy. She was under no pressure in their relationship as nothing was expected from her, and he put her in his movies, leading to added media attention, where they became the couple of the moment.
From a young age Andy Warhol was often seen as an social outcast. When he was eight, he was left bedridden for months with a rare and sometimes fatal disease of the nervous system, Chorea. During this time at home, he was given his first drawing lesson by his mother. When he was nine, his mother bought him a camera, leading to a makeshift dark room in their basement. His mother's early encouragement of artistic expression, was clearly the basis for what became a successful career. Warhol's father passed when he was only 13, knowing his son's potential, his savings were left to fund his education. (10)
Warhol was coming into his own as a print maker when he met Edie Sedgwick in March, 1965 at a New York dinner party. Her appearance and wealthy background drew him to her, leading to an invitation for her to visit 'The Factory', along with mutual friend Chuck Wein. The factory was the nickname for Warhol's gallery, the creation station if you will. (Thanks again babe!) It was during this visit that one of Warhol's small avant-garde movies was being filmed. Warhol put Sedgwick in the movie, despite the all male cast. His movies were of limited release, but regardless, interest in Sedgwick within media circles widened. Poor Little Rich Girl was a film devoted to Edie, showing her going about her daily business. On the phone, smoking cigarettes, ordering coffee, taking pills, putting on make up, and talking to someone off camera. The first portion of the film is blurred and out of focus, due to a faulty camera lens, however the reception of the film was well received.
Poor Little Rich Girl, 1965 Starring Edie Sedgwick. (Part 4 of 7, youtube.com)
Poor Little Rich Girl, 1965 Starring Edie Sedgwick. (Part 5 of 7, youtube.com)
"Part of what makes Warhol so interesting, is his ability to attract really creative and interesting people around him, and be inspired by that." (9) The people that Warhol had around him, he would nickname his 'Superstars'. They were people who were known on the social circuit, and could help him and his work generate publicity. In return he gave them fame and recognition by association. During the 1960s drugs were common within the creative environment, meaning it was more easily accessible, especially given the prolific identities of Warhol, and his 'Superstars'. This accessibility, her own insecurities, and issues within her family life, may be what contributed Sedgwick's downfall, and inability to understand the destruction on her own body. (Including her struggle with anorexia from an early age).
The majority of work produced together by Warhol and Sedwick, was in film form, Warhol was the "first artist to exhibit the video as an art work." (9) There is only one print created, Edie Sedgwick, 1965. Gelatin Silver Print. 19.8 cm x 4 cm. (Currently in the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York). The composition is like that of a photo booth, a mix of casual expressions of her head and shoulders. It is thought Warhol "relished the intersection of public and private worlds that the photo booth seemed to represent [...] the emotional duality that he had a knack for capturing: she seems at once unguarded, caught unaware [...] performing a series of roles for the artist." (10)
Edie Sedgwick, 1965. Gelatin Silver Print. 19.8 cm x 4 cm.
(Image, not the above mentioned, bad quality of actual piece).
Lee Miller was an established photographer in her own right, however she was also an inspiration and soul mate to Man Ray. You may know Man Ray for his contributions to the Dada and Surrealism Movements, and association with Salvador Dali. Lee Miller and Man Ray met in 1929, when she travelled to Paris to meet him, with the intention of training from him, although she took many roles, lover, pupil and muse. Of course this meant Man Ray's "long-term girlfriend Kiki de Montparnasse" was quickly left behind. (11) Ray was 17 years Miller's senior, although she was a reasonable 22 when they met. Miller's background with dominant male figures was far from ideal, she was sexually abused when she was 8, resulting in the transmitting of an STI. Her father, a budding photographer, started photographing his daughter nude that same year. Instead of coming across as damaged from these early life experiences, instead her father was her first teacher and "helped her feel comfortable about her body, giving her a sense of freedom as a model and perhaps as a human being." (12)
Portrait of Lee Miller, Flying Head. c.1930. Paris. Man Ray. Vintage Gelatin Silver Print.
Lee Miller Archives, England. Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society. (ARS), NY / ADAGP, Paris.
Lee Miller. 1930. Man Ray. Photograph.
Solarised Portrait of Lee Miller. c. 1929. Man Ray.
Man Ray Trust / ADAGP, Paris & DACs, London 2012, courtesy The Penrose Collection & the Lee Miller Archives.
The most famous portrait of Miller by Ray, was in 1929, the same year the couple became lovers. The image was created using the solarisation technique. The technique was reinvented by Ray and led to his rayographs, but was ultimately rediscovered by Miller, when she accidentally over exposed an image in his darkroom. The result "lent a [...] silvery aura. Solarisation became the discovery of the age, catapulting photography from craft to fine art." (13)
Indestructible Object (or Object to Be Destroyed). 1923. Remade 1933. Editioned replica 1965.
Currently in the MOMA.
In 1932, Miller left Ray. In light of heart ache came the basis for creative inspiration. It was in this time that two of Ray's most famous works were created. In response to her departure, Ray remade his earlier creation from 1923, with an image of Miller's eye, and an accompaniment that read "Legend, Cut out the eye from a photograph of one who has been loved but is seen no more. Attach the eye to the pendulum of a metronome and regulate the weight to suit the tempo desired. Keep doing to the limit of endurance. With a hammer well-aimed, try to destroy the whole at a single blow". (14) The work was published in the This Quarter magazine, September 1932. The original was created for it's two components. The metronome itself was already a fixture within his home which he used for his artistic craft, "like the pianist [...] when he starts playing - its ticking noise regulated the frequency and number of my brushstrokes." (14) Ray felt a painter needed an audience, so he attached the eye for the imaginative illusion. Once he felt that the piece was in disagreement with him, he smashed it up. When Ray recreated the work the second time, with Miller's eye, it was thought to be a comment on his pain. Maybe the metronome's ticking was a way to fill the silence, and mask the loneliness with a false audience. The watchful eye of a pupil, and partner since gone.
Observatory Time: The Lovers. 1936. A l'Heure de l'observatoire: Les amoureux.
Private Collection.
In Indestructible Object, the focus is on Miller's eye, whereas here, it is her lips. The lips float in the sky, which could read as a reference to both Miller's beauty and departure. Her classical beauty could be compared to the perfection depicted in angels in modern culture, and earlier paintings, with her lips floating among the clouds. This could also correlate with her absence in his life, like a loss and their happier moments now memories. The landscape is thought to be Paris, not a coincidence, but a comment on where they met and became a team. Whilst it could be easily interpreted that he is focusing on small details and making them bigger, on her part "Miller becomes less a woman and more of an object with each cut of Ray's knife. As the years pass, you sense a growing desperation to his slicing." (11) The chessboard has less of a connection to the rest of the composition, but rather a comment of artistic expression itself. Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray himself were all chess players, with Ray stating that "the basis for all art.. it helps you to understand the structure, to master a sense of order." (15)
(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WsLmlXXObE
(3) http://www.theartwolf.com/news/picasso-lecture-en.htm
(4) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12333330
(5) http://www.artnews.com/2006/09/01/say-it-with-flowers-or-gourds-goats-fur-cups-or-fried-eggs/
(6) http://pictify.saatchigallery.com/520662/picasso-pablo-woman-in-hat-and-fur-collar-c-1937-oil-on-canvas
(7) http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/mar/07/picasso-nude-green-leaves-bust
(8)http://www.moma.org/collection/works/78311
(9) http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875/videos/andy-warhol-mini-biography-2168460552
(10) http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875#early-life
(10) http://collection.whitney.org/object/9215
(11) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/man-crush-when-man-ray-met-lee-miller-8463783.html
(12) http://annesebba.com/journalism/lee-miller-the-volatile-life-of-the-astonishingly-creative-and-beautiful-american/
(13) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/8623206/Lee-Miller-and-Man-Ray-crazy-in-love.html
(14) http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/man-ray-indestructible-object-t07614/text-summary
(15) http://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/bservatory-time-the-lovers-1936
(9) http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875/videos/andy-warhol-mini-biography-2168460552
(10) http://www.biography.com/people/andy-warhol-9523875#early-life
(10) http://collection.whitney.org/object/9215
(11) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/man-crush-when-man-ray-met-lee-miller-8463783.html
(12) http://annesebba.com/journalism/lee-miller-the-volatile-life-of-the-astonishingly-creative-and-beautiful-american/
(13) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/8623206/Lee-Miller-and-Man-Ray-crazy-in-love.html
(14) http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/man-ray-indestructible-object-t07614/text-summary
(15) http://www.wikiart.org/en/man-ray/bservatory-time-the-lovers-1936
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