Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko Free Essay Example, 1250 words

In the Blue Period, which lasted till 1904, most of his paintings portrayed a gloomy side of life in thin, half-starved figures often melancholic in shades of blue. Blindness was also an often occurring theme then. An example is The Frugal Repast, which depicted a blind man and a sighted woman. His paintings during this period might have got influenced by the loss of his close friend. Later, in the Rose Period, which lasted for the next three years, his paintings took on a more lively and friendly pink tones and figures from circus. Harlequin became a personal symbol. His work was influenced by Fernande Olivier and her presence in his life. Later, there was a short stint of African influence on some of his paintings like Les Demoiselles dAvignon till 1909. His meeting several giants of art world in Paris, his art technique took a turn and his works reflected Cubism. He was inspired by Paul Cezanne and portrayed characters as geometrical shapes, in different perspectives, which later came to known as Synthetic Cubism. It employed collage in art. Then, an influence of Surrealism is felt in his later works. We will write a custom essay sample on Pablo Picasso and Mark Rothko or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now It was in 1937, one of his landmark paintings Guernica was created on a mural on canvas in black color. It used symbolic forms lie a dying horse and a weeping woman which were noticed in some of this later works. He said about Guernica: â€Å"it isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them† (PBS, 2009). He used art as a complex medium. The Last Period of Picasso’s art witnessed a mixture of techniques, themes and styles. They were more colorful, which were criticized by his contemporaries, but then identified as uniquely belonging to the emerging Neo-Expressionism way ahead of its times. Many Art historians and critics say that Picasso’s art style and techniques changed as much as the women in his life changed. With every personal experience, loss, happiness and relationship had a strong influence on his art technique. He also gained much from the historical art as well as his contemporary giants, whom he met in Paris. He played an active role in the modern avant-garde depicting the techniques used by Realism, Symbolism, Surrealism, Cubism, Synthetic Cubism and Neo-Expressionism. Mark Rothko: Rothko was not so young when he discovered the artist in him. Unlike Pablo Picasso, whose significant early art outputs can be traced to the period when he was 14, Rothko discovered the artist in him in 1923, when he was twenty years old.