Por qué no acaba todo, ora que puedes (Pablo Picasso)

[Dirk, Moderator]

Por qué no acaba todo, ora que puedes
Amortajar mi cuerpo venturoso
Con tu mantilla, pálida andaluza!—
No me avergüenzo, no, de que me encuentren
Clavado el corazón con tu peineta!

[Ruth]

Spanish poem, Spanish-looking lady. Could it be an early Picasso?

[Dirk, Moderator]

Yes it is Picasso!
Bu not really early, the date is 1917 and the lady in the picture is Olga Khokhlova his wife from 1917.

From Museo Picasso Málaga:
Having been invited by Serge de Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes to design the costumes and stage sets for Parade, choreographed by Léonide Massine to a libretto by Jean Cocteau and an original score by Erik Satie, Picasso travelled in February 1917 to Rome, where he met the Russian ballerina Olga Khokhlova. After the Italian tour, which saw the burgeoning of Olga and Picasso’s love affair, the Company travelled to Paris, where Parade premièred on 18 May at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and then continued on to Spain. Picasso joined them in Madrid, and at the beginning of June he settled in Barcelona, where his mother Doña María lived, as well as his sister Lola, married to the doctor Juan Vilató. He also met up again with old friends, Catalan painters and critics, and shared a studio with Rafael Padilla. From 23 to 30 June, the Ballets Russes performed at the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona: Olga danced around ten roles, among which were the principal roles of a maid of honour in Les Ménines and Felicia in Les Femmes de bonne humeur, both original works by Massine. Although Olga had received much encouragement from both the choreographer and Diaghilev, and had a promising career ahead of her in the troupe, she nevertheless decided not to take part in the tour to South America, preferring to stay with Picasso. The artist had introduced her to his family as his future wife, and to mark their engagement he painted Olga Khokhlova with a Mantilla, the first known oil portrait of the young woman. As a symbolic gesture, he gave it to Doña María.

I had the idea to return to Picasso for this 100th post, because we had him very early (12th of March) And I did not post more works of the artist then.
Now I can and I will but I have a lot of Picasso’s ready to post and it is really late now here in Antwerp (1:00 am.-) So let’s have them tomorrow OK?

Maybe just one:



This is Olga in 1923

[Dirk, Moderator]

As promised: a (very) small selection of the works of Pablo Picasso:


1895


1896


1896 self portrait


1901


1903


1906 self portrait


1907


1908


1917


1918


1920


1929


1933


1936


1937


1939


1945


1955


1965

[Dirk, Moderator]

The poem was Mantilla Andaluza by Jose Marti:

José Julián Martí Pérez (January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol for Cuba's bid for independence against Spain in the 19th century, and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence."

With the help of Google translate (my Spanish is very limited ;-)

Why doesn't everything end, pray that you can
Cushion my windy body
With your blanket, pale Andalusian! -
I'm not ashamed, no, of being found
Nailed the heart with your comb!

[Ruth]

How interesting to see the change over time. And that amazing little still life slipped in there.