A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy, 1881-1906 (Borzoi Books)

by John Richardson

book data

42 ratings, 4.29 average rating, 7 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		47%
4		37%
3		12%
2		2%
1		0%

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published

October 16th 2007 (first published 1991) by Knopf

binding

Paperback, 560 pages

literary awards

Whitbread Book Award (1991)

isbn

037571149X (isbn13: 9780375711497)

description

As he magnificently combines meticulous scholarship with irresistible narrative appeal, Richardson draws on his close friendship with Picasso, his own...more

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01/09/08

Rick rated it:

(review of isbn 0679764216)

bookshelves: non-fiction

Read in January, 2008

I’m not sure how many volumes Richardson imagines. Three have been published to date, this first volume in 1991 and the most recent volume, which only goes to 1932, in 2007. When you take into account that Richardson knew Picasso, who died thirty plus years ago, and is therefore not a young man, and that he is not yet halfway through the artist’s life, and that he clearly believes that Picasso remained a major artist throughout his long life, he’s got some serious typing to do because at l...more I’m not sure how many volumes Richardson imagines. Three have been published to date, this first volume in 1991 and the most recent volume, which only goes to 1932, in 2007. When you take into account that Richardson knew Picasso, who died thirty plus years ago, and is therefore not a young man, and that he is not yet halfway through the artist’s life, and that he clearly believes that Picasso remained a major artist throughout his long life, he’s got some serious typing to do because at least three more volumes must be intended, perhaps four. And I’ll look forward to each of them, as I do to reading the two more already published. Richardson is a crusty, opinionated, yet companionable narrator who brings two kinds of insight to his task: personal knowledge of his subject, with deep access to the papers and people in the artist’s world, and the sure-footed authority of a major art historian. He doesn’t overplay his being an insider to intrude into the spotlight, at least not yet, when his intersects with the works and events of this first volume are limited to late in life interviews with Picasso about a particular memory or a forgotten work that Richardson shared with Picasso as a prompt for a recollection. Volume one covers Picasso’s childhood and early rise in the art world. Born in Malaga, in southern Spain, Picasso spends most of his early life in Barcelona, Madrid, and finally Paris learning to be, well, Picasso. His father was a painter of only local note, fond of painting pigeons. His dwarfish talent is sniffily dismissed by Richardson and the father-son relationship is given an Oedipal meaning by Richardson that never seems to warrant such mythical assumption. However, the boy can paint and draw. He admires El Greco and Velasquez. Later Cezanne, Matisse, and Gauguin. Before he reached the age when Kurt Cobain and Heath Ledger had died, he gone through his Blue Period, Rose Period, and entered the less definable period that gave the world his portrait of Gertrude Stein and the revolutionary Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, not to mention numerous self-portraits and other works influenced by primitive masks and classical forms. From the beginning, Picasso was both amazingly prolific and protean. Richardson provides a rich portrait with a cast of interesting thousands. He is a good writer, plain spoken and sharp-witted, and this multi-volume biography, a masterwork. (less)

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01/18/09

fbuser1662680069 rated it:

(review of isbn 0679764216)

Read in January, 2009

Fascinating story of Picasso's early years up until 1907 when he painted a modern masterpiece, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Every page is illustrated with drawings, paintings, and photos that illuminate the text. You may not like Picasso as a person but getting a glimpse of the Paris art scene at the beginning of the 20th century is amazing.

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01/10/09

Charlie is currently reading it (review of isbn 0679764216)

bookshelves: currently-reading

i meant only to look at the pictures, but so well written I find myself reading this textbook/novel book about the life of picasso (from zero to twenty five)
so far, amazing.
very very good.

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