Myth and Metamorphosis: Picasso's Classical Prints of the 1930s

Book Description

Previous studies of Picasso's involvement with the classical have tended to concentrate on the period immediately following the First World War, and to attribute that involvement to both the rise of political conservatism in France and the domesticating influence of the artist's marriage to Olga Koklova. Focusing instead on the later, classicizing prints of the 1930s, this book offers a radically different view of Picasso and the "classical" -- a view that aligns his work much more closely with Surrealist, and specifically Bataillean, revisions of antiquity.

The book's argument is built around detailed analyses of several separate print series: Picasso's illustrations for Ovid's Metamorphoses, the etchings of the Vollard Suite, and The Minotauromachy. Common to all of them, the book shows, is a strong engagement not only with the classical, but with the viewer. In the latter, Picasso's prints are clearly at odds with the understanding of the relationship between classical art and its audience that prevailed throughout most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries -- an understanding that held the work's purported autonomy to mirror the viewer's own. By exposing that autonomy as a fantasy, Picasso opens the "classical" work and its viewer alike to the entanglements of desire and the dissolution of boundaries it inevitably brings.

Much of the argument turns on close readings of key Surrealist texts by Georges Bataille, Michel Leiris, and Roger Caillois. Even more important, however, are the prints' numerous references, heretofore unnoticed, to specific works by, among others, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Goya. These references effectively create an alternative "classical" tradition out of which Picasso's etchings can be seen to have emerged.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent academic text on Picasso's Prints of 1930s.......2007-03-24

Academic but laid out so well that it is a pleasant and informative read for non-academics. Well researched and illustrated, in easy-to-follow chapters. The notes and references are excellent too, but it is the layout that is exceptional.

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The Ultimate Wiener Dog Art
Great book
Picasso and Lump
An Artist and His Four Legged Soulmate
Not what I expected

Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund's Odyssey
David Douglas Duncan , and Paloma Picasso Thevenet
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0821258109

Book Description

One spring morning in 1957, veteran photojournalist David Douglas Duncan paid a visit to his friend and frequent photographic subject Pablo Picasso, at the artists villa near Cannes. Traveling with Duncan was his pet dachshund, Lump. The photographers nomadic lifestyle and his other doga giant Afghan houndhad never suited the jealous and temperamental Lump. So when they arrived at Picassos Villa La Californie that spring day, Lump decided that he had found his paradise on earth, and that he would take up permanent residence with Picasso. Lump was soon immortalized in a Picasso portrait painted on a plate, but this was just the beginning. In a suite of 45 paintings reinterpreting Velsquezs masterpiece Las Meninas, Picasso replaced the impressive hound in the foreground with jaunty renderings of Lump. Fifteen of the paintings are reproduced here, bringing full circle the odyssey of a fortunate dachshund who found his way from reluctant road warrior to furry and elongated icon of modern art.

Customer Reviews:

The Ultimate Wiener Dog Art.......2007-09-02

This book is an unmitigated delight. The photographs are enchanting and the story they tell completely wonderful. I was sad to learn that Picasso "dumped" Lump when his back was injured, but he gave him to David Douglas Duncan (who originally brought him) and I must think that Lump lived out his days in great happiness. In any event, this is a real charmer and a great one to keep on the coffee table to look through again and again.

Great book.......2007-08-14

Art is one of my passions, and until getting this book Picasso was just an inivative man to me with a weird style I didn't appreciate. This book changed my mind, especially after reading this part of the book,"Picasso's welcome of Lump into his family happened so fast Jacqueline was stunned--speechless. There had always been dogs around Picasso's studios and seen in some of his paintings but never in his arms--where Lump was now at home." It was really a touching book.

You must own this if you are a dachshund lover. And you really must own it if you are an art lover.

Picasso and Lump.......2007-07-13

An enjoyable photographic essay featuring one of my favorite artists and my favorite type of dog, a dachshund.

An Artist and His Four Legged Soulmate.......2007-05-15

This wonderful book was a big hit with me for two reasons. I've had dachshunds all of my life, with two in residence now, and I majored in art history in college. The minute the book arrived I read it cover to cover. Lump's antics tickled me to death and I laughed out loud causing my own dachshunds to stare and look at me in the way that only dachsies can do. I've even begun calling my most mischievious one "Lumpita" ! After reading the book I went back and examined every detail in each picture, fascinated with the very intimate look into the private life of the artist. The story of Picasso and Lump exposes a vulnerable side of an artistic genius. You don't have to love dachshunds to love this book!

Not what I expected.......2007-05-13

I didn't realize when I ordered this book that it was primarily a photographic essay. The pictures are delightful but, as a dachshund "owner," I had hoped for more of a written history of the adventures of Lump. 'Owner' in quotes since anyone who has lived with a dachsie knows who owns whom.

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The ultimate Picasso artwork reference.
the best picasso book ever!!
nothing much to say but incredible
Plastic surgeons probably shouldnýt use these for murals.
the ultimate picasso book for art enthusiasts.

The Ultimate Picasso
Brigitte Leal , Christine Piot , and Marie-Laure Bernadac
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0810991144

Amazon.com

If you had to choose just one book about Pablo Picasso, the most protean artist of the 20th century, what would you look for? Copious, good-quality reproductions. An authoritative account of the way his approach to painting was influenced by his personality, the women in his life, and his awareness of art made by others. An in-depth treatment of key works like Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (which Picasso memorably called his "first exorcism painting") and signature themes, like the half-man, half-animal Minotaur. Then there's the question of tone. Some books cast Picasso as a demigod or a destroyer. Others, like art historian John Richardson's A Life of Picasso, offer a more balanced, psychologically penetrating portrait of the artist.

Hefty, elegant, and inclusive, The Ultimate Picasso hits most, though not all, of these marks. It offers more than 1,200 reproductions (nearly 800 in color) spanning the artist's entire career. Smoothly translated from the French, the book weaves biographical detail and discussions of the art into a concise narrative. ("Olga became pregnant in the summer of 1920, and in Picasso's work forms blossomed and flesh took on the massive quality of stone.") The three authors are all experts--Léal and Bernadac are (respectively) present and former curators of the Musée Picasso in Paris, and Piot coauthored the catalogue raisonné of Picasso's sculpture. They clearly explain visual sources, duly acknowledge leading art historians' interpretations, and choose good quotes from contemporaries. Yet the text can be surprisingly skimpy. The 16-page section on Guernica, for example, has barely two pages of discussion about the painting and its genesis. The authors keep an extremely tight focus on their subject, with only as much mention of Picasso's contemporaries or the outside world as is absolutely necessary.

The major flaws, however, are the authors' hyperbolic view of their subject ("Picasso did not paint nature, but the suffering of the men and women of his time, creating from it beauty and truth") and the lack of any psychological insight about the repeated devastation Picasso wreaks on the female form. In this old-fashioned portrait of the male artist as genius, human failings do not exist, unless they belong to somebody else. --Cathy Curtis

Book Description

Of all the books on the man many consider the greatest genius of 20th-century art, the sumptuous hardcover volume published by Abrams in 2000 stands out as truly the "ultimate" Picasso. This new paperback edition includes everything in the previous book, in a smaller, reader-friendly format. It covers in one volume all the periods of Picasso's long, incredibly versatile career, with exquisite reproductions of nearly every significant work he ever created and texts by leading authorities on particular periods of Picasso's artistic evolution.

Brigitte Léal covers Picasso's formative years from 1881 through 1916, a period that includes his invention of Cubism with Georges Braque. Christine Piot explores the astonishingly fertile period from 1917 through 1952. Marie-Laure Bernadac discusses the unabashed vigor of Picasso's later years, from 1953 until his death in 1973. More than 1,200 magnificent reproductions, almost 800 in full color, illustrate Picasso's breathtaking range of artistic expression, including paintings, drawings, lithographs, ceramics, and sculpture. Picasso once boasted that a book would have to be written every day to keep up with his creative output. Perhaps. But for art lovers and students seeking just one book, The Ultimate Picasso is unsurpassed.

Customer Reviews:

The ultimate Picasso artwork reference........2006-07-13

I took this book out of our university library to have on hand while reading Françoise Gilot's "Living with Picasso", in order to see representations of the artwork to which she refers throughout the book. "The Ultimate Picasso" proved invaluable. Not only does it contain Picasso's complete major works, they are also presented in chronological order which made look-up easy despite Gilot's often describing an artwork and the process used to create it but not always giving its title (she always gives dates). I ordered "The Ultimate Picasso" before the library due date because I couldn't bear to not have the book in my house!
The photos of the artwork are brilliant and crisp, and the accompanying text is informative.
You will not be disappointed by this book.

the best picasso book ever!!.......2005-03-06

this book rocks so much it breaks the very laws that govern physics!! so much information, so many beautiful pictures, so dense. it seems to capture the very spirit of pablo picasso. it was give to me as a valentine's day gift, and it is one of my most prized books. this is a MUST purchase for any picasso fan.

nothing much to say but incredible.......2004-11-13

To see tons of Picasso works in one book is nothing short of breathtaking. This is easily the best Picasso book that focuses on his paintings. What's incredible is to see the prolific amount of work he was capable of, and just what a inventive genius he was. Without a doubt the greatest Artist of the 20th century. Not all the works make sense, or are even recognizable as anything, but that was Picasso; his art was how he viewed the world, and how his own heart felt inside:confused, and out of place. His Cubism is nearly mathmatical, and very intriguing. IF you're interested in Picasso as more than that weird guy who made all those paintings i just don't get, come and check out this book to see all of what he was made of. You'll be amazed and inspired.

Plastic surgeons probably shouldnýt use these for murals........2002-09-28

The Ultimate Picasso could easily defeat The Fabulous Braque and The Superlative Cézanne in an arena style cubist grand melee. It would be no contest, really. The Ultimate Picasso would open up with his patented synthetic slammer sending Cézanne right back through the analytical period. Braque would try to stun him with some multi-viewed complex patterns, but nothing can neutralize The Ultimate Picasso.
Braque might try a new tactic then: swinging wildly with his blinding colors. The Ultimate Picasso would roll towards the canvas, ducking under the swing that hits the helpless Cézanne full on. Then BAM! Right out of nowhere, The Ultimate Picasso lays the smackdown on both of them with his ball-buster blue period. Down for the count: The Ultimate Picasso is once again champion of the art world.

the ultimate picasso book for art enthusiasts........2001-08-14

The greatest part of this huge and informative art book is the literally hundreds of pictures that it contains. A very colorful book, which is a must for anyone interested in this highly acclaimed artist, whose Cubist style signified a new era for the art world. Picasso is one of the best artists, in my opinion, and this book gives an in-depth account of his life and his extraordinary career on canvas.

Average customer rating:

Another equisite title to accompany a Fondation Beyeler exhibition!

Expressive!
Paul Gauguin , Markus Bruderlin , Donald Kuspit , Francis Bacon , Georg Baselitz , Max Beckmann , Francesco Clemente , Ernst Ludwig Kirchner , Edvard Munch , Pablo Picasso , Egon Schiele , and Vincent van Gogh
Manufacturer: Hatje Cantz Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3775713034
Release Date: 2003-07-02

Book Description

The quality of expressiveness--an outcry of the human soul against the mechanization of life--runs like a red scar through the entire history of modern art and up to the present day. If expressionism is associated first and foremost with the German contribution to Modernism, evoking the artists associated with Die Brcke (Kirchner, Heckel and Nolde) and Der Blaue Reiter (Marc and Kandinsky), but also the Austrian Schiele and Kokoshka, and the Parisian fauves, it nevertheless goes further. Beginning with the fathers of expressionism, Gauguin, van Gogh and Munch, the most important inspirations for a movement laden with emotions and endowed with the furor of rebellion, the red scar bleeds through the expressive tendencies of the interwar artists (Beckmann, Soutine and Picasso) and the postwar artists (Dubuffet, de Kooning and Bacon), and all the way to neo-expressionism (Baselitz, Lpertz, Lassnig) and 80s neo-fauvism (Clemente, Basquiat and Disler), ending with Louise Bourgeois and Bruce Nauman. In accompanying essays, philosopher and art historian Donald Kuspit sets out to trace the meaning of the term "expressive"; curator Markus Brderlin explores expressionism by looking backwards from neo-expressionism; and numerous short texts round off the exploration by focusing on individual works of art.

Customer Reviews:

Another equisite title to accompany a Fondation Beyeler exhibition!.......2005-08-16

The color reproductions are excellent, detailed text is easily read without flipping back and forth between pages, the scholarship is fine, and the book makes an excellent addition to current thoughts on expressionism. Plus, Amazon.com's discounts on fine art books are truly important in helping one build a great art library!

Picasso in his Posters: Image and Work; 4 volume set

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Picasso in his Posters: Image and Work; 4 volume set
Luis Carlos Rodrigo , and Pablo Picasso
Manufacturer: Arte Ediciones
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Great Intro to ART
A work of art that's fun to read
Fun book
this book inspired my 2 year old to paint
Great story of friendship, art, and puns, too!

When Pigasso Met Mootisse
Nina Laden
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0811811212

Book Description

When Pigasso met Mootisse, what begins as a neighborly overture escalates into a mess. Before you can say paint-by-numbers, the two artists become fierce rivals, calling each other names and ultimately building a fence between them. But when the two painters paint opposite sides of the fence that divides them, they unknowingly create a modern art masterpiece, and learn it is their friendship that is the true work of art.
Nina Laden's wacky illustrations complement this funny story that non only introduces children to two of the world's most extraordinary modern artists, but teaches a very important lesson&dash;how to creatively resolve a conflictâin a most unusual way.

Customer Reviews:

Great Intro to ART.......2007-09-28

What a fantastic book to introduce some masters to your child. Wonderful, bright pictures and an adorable story!

A work of art that's fun to read.......2007-08-13

Such a humorous and educational way to learn about the two masters of 20th century modernism. My son has this book and I've given it to other kids and everyone loves it, and they amazingly retain and remember the facts about the real artists as well. Excellent way to expose your child to the arts in a way that's fun and memorable.

Fun book.......2007-01-05

Whether your kid knows who Picasso is or not, this is a fun play on Famous Artists and their feuding ways. My Kindergartener loves this book.

this book inspired my 2 year old to paint.......2006-12-13

This book is my daughter's favorite. We have read it every day for the past 9 or so months and she has most of the punch lines memorized, (e.g., "mootisse was not like the other bulls" "it was a modern art mess" "the silence was broken" "i'm tired of this crowded cow town"). After reading it the first time, she said she wanted to draw with paint. And she did. Now we do watercolors all the time and she knows that Picasso and Matisse were great artists. This book provided a fun and funny way for her to learn about two art masters and their styles while also teaching a lesson about conflict resolution.

We have taken this book on flights across the country and overseas. The illustrations and the story engage my daughter to no end. The description of this book is for 4-8 year olds but unlike Roberto: The Insect Architect by Nina Laden (also a funny, well-illustrated book), I find Pigasso/Mootisse to be appropriate for a younger {pre}reader as well. I'm back to buy more copies as gifts for all the kids that I know.

Great story of friendship, art, and puns, too!.......2005-12-30

This terrific book recounts the rivalry and eventual friendship of Picasso and Matisse, er, ah, excuse me...I meant, Pigasso and Mootisse. The protagonists in this story live across the street from each other and first hurl insults like,"You paint like a wild beast", (that's called "fauvism" for all you art lovers or snobs out there!) while Mootisse retorts, "You are pig-headed". Throughout, the paint and puns fly.
Beautiful visuals and a great afterward that tell the "real" story of Picasso and Matisse complete this utterly charming book. A good intro to art world for the little ones, as well as a lesson on the power of friendship and tolerance.

Picasso: 200 Masterpieces from 1898 to 1972

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Picasso: 200 Masterpieces from 1898 to 1972

Picasso: 200 Masterpieces from 1898 to 1972
Pablo Picasso , Bernard Picasso , and Bernice Rose
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0821227920

Book Description

Picasso was an extremely prolific artist, and there remain many little-known, rarely seen works that have been held in private collections. In the fall of 2001, Milans Palazzo Reale presents an exhibition of many of these works, which are also featured in this spectacular oversized art book. It is alive with splashes of brilliant color and is a distinguished addition to any art bookshelf, featuring 300 illustrations that cover oil paintings, aquatints, prints, sculpture, and terracottas, as well as textiles such as the Ballet Russe costumes Picasso created for Diaghilev.

Customer Reviews:

Picasso: 200 Masterpieces from 1898 to 1972.......2006-08-04

Nice hardcover book with many color and black & white reproductions of the history of Picasso's work.

Average customer rating:

Beautiful and informative

Picasso Linoleum Cuts
Metropolitan Museum Art
Manufacturer: Random House, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 039454692X
Release Date: 1985-04-12

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful and informative.......2004-11-18

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso worked in a remarkable number of media. His drypoint prints look like they were made by a man enraged, or more likely Spanish. These are some of his linocuts, obviously made by the same hand.

First, please, don't dismiss block prints as kids' stuff. It's wonderful that the medium presents such a low technical barrier that it's accessible to many makers. That doesn't matter. A great artist can make better art with a charred stick than you or I can with a full studio. And he did.

Some are white-line prints ("Painter and his Model"), some are black-line (page 133), and some ("Dancers and a Musician") are both. Many use multiple blocks ("Small Bacchanalia"), others ("Bulls in Vallauris") are single blocks or ("Family Scene") reduction prints a.k.a 'suicide' prints. Some are delicate ("Head of a Boy"), but most are bold.

This is an amazing collection, with ten unique pages at the end. Clay impressions were taken from some of those blocks. They captured the individual tools marks in the original linocut, and showed just how his hand pulled each line from the lino surface. If you've ever made a block print, you will feel in your hand how Picasso created the image - an experience beyond words.

I'm not the one to fault the master, but I have to ask: what was his artistic reason for not sharpening his tools? Again and again (images #110, 118, 82, and others), the linocuts show a jagged line where his gouge tore the surface. I know that linoleum blocks are fragile and break with use (#82 again), but the ragged edge was not necessary. Or was it?

Anyway, it's a wonderful book. The color is good, the prints are incredible, technical information is adequate, and the commentary sinks out of sight. This book mostly just leaves you by yourself, with the beautiful prints.

//wiredweird

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The Best
excellent on picasso's early years
Brings to life the great artist's first 25 years
Classic Biography
Monumental but readable too

A Life of Picasso, Volume I: 1881-1906
John Richardson
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0394531922
Release Date: 1991-02-20

Customer Reviews:

The Best.......2006-11-22

I'll leave the details to others. For me, Richardson's two (so far) volumes on Picasso are the Best, thoroughly researched, and most enjoyable artist biography I've read. While many other artist bios have nearly put me to sleep (useful - if you ever WANT to go to sleep... just reach for the typical long dry artist bio..) Richardson's two volumes on the life of Picasso I've read through twice. (Allright John, where's that third book already?..)

excellent on picasso's early years.......2006-04-16

of course some elements are lost forever, but it's worth contemplating these early years of picasso and to realize how much he had accomplished by say, 1905. my own image of him has tended to dwell on him as an old man doing a certain style of work... but he was (to put it crudely) young a long time.

Brings to life the great artist's first 25 years.......2002-04-01

I respond as a general reader and can attest that reading this work was very much like engaging in a talk with an erudite and witty and sympathic art loving friend. I say engaging as Mr Richardsom anticipates questions and provides explanations. He is also revealing, at least to my mind, about many of the important figures of the early 20th century, such as Gertrude Stein, but as well, the social and artistic revolutions that were occuring. Picasso himself, however, is determinedly apolitical.The illustrations are useful, plentiful and conveniently located adjacent to the text. Chapters may stand on their own - for example Chapter 28 "Summer at Gosol" has many interesting features that show the artist's creative energy and source of inspiration at the time, the relationship with Ferdinande contrasted with his admiration for a ninety year old patriarch of the tiny mountain village, there perilous journey by mule in and out of Gosol, the atmosphere and the creative joy that Picasso experiences, not to mention the breakthough in his work that occurs at this time. The paperback is sturdily bound and overall, as a read, I found the "story", if you will, a most engaging read.

Classic Biography.......2000-03-30

There should be no doubt that the first two volumes of Richardson's Picasso can be ranked alongside Ellman on both Wilde and Joyce or with Michael Holroyd's bio of Lytton Strachey. If a biographer loves his subject then that is no bad thing. Richard Ellman wrote his bios quite clearly in the style of his subjects and by so doing brought us closer to them.Ellman was obviously completely mesmerised by Oscar Wilde thus the greater the tragedy.

Picasso was no such doomed figure. If a ever a man was blessed with talent, opportunity, lovers sycophants,wealth and long life to enjoy them then this little Iberian colossus had it all. Richardson dotes on his client in obvious awe and why not? The book is painstakingly researched and pulls up from being pedantic by the author's ability to describe the historical firmament in which Picasso's star shone. These bit players (Max Jacob, Apollinaire, Braque, etc.) are giants in their own right and yet it is only Matisse who comes out ultimately unscathed. Mr. Richardson has his own favourites and these are evidently Picasso's too.

It is made plain that despite the comet of Picasso's life and times and all the bright shining lights his work remained inviolate and the unquestionable raison d'etre of his existence . Picasso takes obvious liberties with his friendships and lovers. If this is how a hugely successful personality can behave then Picasso can obviously be a complete swine. Mr.Richardson paints a picture of a man who, for good or evil, is able to absorb the passed and present literate and plastic art talents and synthesise them into his own staggering vision.

It is the unmitigated audacity of Picasso to compare his work on a par with El Greco, Zurbaran, Velazquez, etc. He does though concede their greatness. Nevertheless he has not the slightest doubt that he belongs in that realm. Such nerve!

Picasso was no monk (as the elderly Braque has sometimes been described) and evidently had an ego to match his talents. As a biography Richardson's work has to be amazing to read and leave us hungry for more. It also has to leave a bitter residue as evidence of Picasso's sometimes shabby behaviour.

How would any of us behave if such greatness were thrust upon us? That is simply one of the unanswerable questions a great biography poses.

Now, where are vols. III and IV?

Monumental but readable too.......2000-01-10

Richardson in his landmark biography of Picasso gingerly walks through the minefields that have been laid in the 100+ years that Picasso has been on the art scene. Picasso is near enough to being our contemporary that it would have been nearly impossible for Richardson to have treated him fairly in the minds of many. One of the foremost issues recently raised, is his attitude towards women and his treatment of his lovers and wives. As for what can be gleaned from this and Vol II, Picasso was probably about average in this respect for a man of his time. Richardson seems to have intelligently not taken the bait and endulged in defending the past against the present.

Since Richardson knew Picasso as an intimate friend, there is an air of familiarity that pervades the work. I really enjoyed the feeling of immediacy and of being there when it happened that Richardson has so skillfully woven into the book. In comparison, Simon Schama's monumental biography of Rembrandt (and Rubens) reads more like a peek at the past. Schama can be excused since the passing of nearly 400 years makes writing in the immediate mode difficult and maybe even a little pretentious.

Though definitely not hagiaography, Richardson does treat his subject almost like a doting father, but loving his child warts and all. As to the work being a defense of Picasso in his rivalry with Matisse, one could only read that into the work if one was a rabid Matisse fan. I'm sorry but, Matisse being the giant that he was, was no Picasso.

The book flows like a river. I was truly transported back into Picasso's life and social scene. I found the artistic analysis of his work to be on target and written without much academic showing off or mumbo-jumbo. If you are looking for a Post-Modernist deconstruction of Picasso, it (thankfully!) isn't here. The historical coverage of Picasso's social circle is excellent and made me want to have been able to attend some of the Picasso's tertulias at Lapin Agile. What an exciting time it must have been.

I flashed on Roger Shattuck's book The Banquet Years, which also transports the reader back to Paris in the years 1895 to WW I. Shattuck's book would be a good companion piece or primer for the Richardson series.

I saw Richardson give a lecture in 1998 at the College of Santa Fe. He does appear to be along in years and is definitely no Lapin Agile himself. From the gleanings of an after lecture discussion in the hallway with Richardson, it appears that Marylin McCauley, his collaborator on the project, is equally a writer and Picasso scholar and will be the torchbearer for the future editions. My own suspicions are that she may have been the major writer on Vol II. Since Vol II ends only in 1917, there appears to be at least 2 and possibly 3 more volumes to come. This is truly a monumental work and one that reads well. It could have easily turned out to be a "reference" biography reading like a bushel of note cards strung together.

I highly recommend it and the whole series. (I am confident enough that the ones to come will be as exciting.) Not only good brain medicine for a Modern Art enthusiast but fun reading too.

Average customer rating:

Worth it for Picasso

Honestly...

Subpar

Intellectual and charming

for la_solinas

Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Other Plays
Steve Martin
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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UNDERPANTS, THE

PLEASURE OF MY COMPANY, THE: A NOVELLA

Shopgirl

Cruel Shoes

The Pillowman

ASIN: 0802135234

Amazon.com

Ever wonder what it would have been like if wild and crazy Steve Martin had written an episode of "The Twilight Zone"? Well, wonder no more. The zany actor/comedian made playwright rookie of the year with this, the script of his first comedy, set in a bar in 1904 Paris. Two of the regulars, twentysomethings Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein, argue about the art of physics and the physics of art as they try to impress and bed a pretty girl. And then the space/time/culture continuum ruptures, and they're joined by a figure from the future who seems to be . . . Elvis Presley! Read for yourself why the show's been done Off-Broadway and at regionals around the country.

Customer Reviews:

Worth it for Picasso.......2007-03-13

I think in reality this probably deserves 4 stars, but I love "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" too much to rate it anything below 5. It's a great read and a lot of fun to act. It's funny on so many levels - everything from wacky and silly to crude to smart to dry humor down to the very subtle (like having an "e-shaped pie."... it's a math joke (pi)). The ideas in it are great, and I especially enjoyed comparing science to art. It's as much fun to think about intellectually as it is to see the different characters bounce off of each other. It's the kind of play that reaches everyone differently - especially through the various types of humor.

The other plays are so-so, some better than others. I like them for their read, but it's harder to see them as plays - perhaps I'm wrong. I liked Floating Lady because of the emotions and intensity I imagined as I performed it in my head. I liked Zig-Zag Woman because it was kind of cute, but I think I expected too much of the ending as I read it, so was a little disappointed. WASP was also somewhat interesting to read and draw ideas from, but as a play in and of itself I didn't enjoy it very much.

Hope that helps. In the end, just buy it for "Picasso..."

Honestly..........2007-02-09

I've never read the other plays in this book, so I can only comment on Lapin Agile. This play alone is worth purchasing the volume for. If you are familiar with the other scripts or plays that Martin has written, this will not dissapoint. The pacing is perfect. The humor is amazing. The visitor is hilarious.

Subpar.......2006-05-30

As a fan of Martin's other published works, I was disappointed with this one. Most of Martin's concepts come from "pretty far out there", but this one just misses the target completely.

"Picasso...", which is the centerpiece of the book, shows Picasso, Einstein, and others discussing the impact of art in an otherwise uneventful 20th Century. While this play has its moments, there are not enough of those moments to revive it from blandness. The three remaining plays are shorter and largely forgettable. "The Zig-Zag Woman" and "Patter for the Floating Lady" uses magic tricks as a device to discuss philosophies of love. The only thing I would find remotely interesting about "Zig-Zag Woman" would be the tricks being performed on stage including separating the torso from the woman's body. "Wasp" is a dry mockery of the 1950's mores of America. Since this theme has been done well before, Martin need not have tried it.

I enjoyed "Shopgirl", "Pleasure of My Company", and "Underpants" as written by Steve Martin. I really could have lived without this book.

Intellectual and charming.......2004-07-07

I really enjoyed reading the play. What made it even better was seeing the play a few months later. I definitely recommend reading the book before it is on stage. This plays particularly appeals to anyone who's interested in clever dialogs and has a wild imagination.

for la_solinas.......2004-06-29

Steve Martin was never in the Naked Gun movies. You are thinking of a far less skilled actor and comedian, Leslie Neilson. If I were Steve, I'd be offended.

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