PICASSO SCULPTURE KNOWLEDGE

Sculptures in museums can be somewhat difficult to knowledge. Especially if the sculpture is hanging on a wall. We analyze Picasso’s Violin 1915.

This piece by Picasso, titled Violin 1915, can be interpreted many ways. It is an Almost Ready To Build. The left photo shows clear, buildable forms with skylights, all ready to go. If you are a Landscape Architect, you might see an interesting garden geometry complete with reflecting ponds. If you are a fashion designer, you might see the structure of a Kimono type cloak. If you are a caricaturist, you might see an angular facial structure.

The right photo, or side view, I was able to take without setting off the museum proximity alarms. Part of the knowledge of my drawing is to rationalize as best I could these top and side views so that what I drew is how it works.

As a sculpture, of course, it is already a resolved holistic form. I tried to knowledge the relation between what we typically call floating forms. The pieces of bent metal have the Picasso typical loose assembly. And of course there is a wonderful geometric organization. It flows. It overlaps. It pauses. It is funny.

True to the Transparent Drawing Museum Photography Method, I took two photos of the piece, so I would have less questions about how it worked when I drew it. Which turns out was around three years after I saw the exhibition.

Pieces like this are humbling. And they feel eternal. Like some kind of found object. Or something that was unearthed. And as with any Picasso piece, the knowledge that is available is, well, again, humbling.