Femme au Chignon Dans un Fauteuil 1948 Pablo Picasso Commentary by Pieter Bergli

Title of painting - Femme au Chignon Dans un Fauteuil, painted in the Autumn 1948, by Pablo Picasso.

Pablo Picasso b.1881 d.1973. Great Spanish artist.

The painting is an oil on canvas painted in the Autumn of 1948. The story behind the painting is  about a romance Picasso had with his lover Françoise Gilot in Paris in the late 1940's. Picasso was already 64 years old at the end of the Second World War in 1945. At the time Françoise, 28 years old, was pregnant with the couple’s second child, Paloma, and she was angry that Picasso had left her all alone in Paris whilst he had made a trip to Warsaw to attend a Communist conference in Poland for several weeks. Françoise certainly knew of her lover's previous string of affairs and was always concerned she might be left alone. They had 2 children together: Claude born in 1947 and Paloma in 1949. Picasso had joined the Communist party in 1944 in the fight against Fascism. When Picasso had returned he had brought a gift of a red Polish peasant jacket which quickly appeased her anger as she took to wearing the jacket as is depicted in this painting. After the end of the second World War there was a great vibrancy in Europe with the eagerness for peace and reconstruction. the mood was more cheerful and that optimism can be found in this period of Picasso's life where his paintings exhibited more color and energy. Avoiding pressure to depict more Communist philosophical themes with the success of the Communists over the fascists Picasso turned to more personal themes with a new color and hope in his life. typically the painting captures Françoise in a form of color and symbolic shapes and meanings  that retains all the poise and charm of a natural image rendition.

The painting was recently sold to Chinese movie tycoon Wang Zhong who bought this fabulous Picasso 2 weeks ago for $29.9 million. Oil on canvas auctioned by the Goldwyn family collection on Tuesday 5h May 2015 at Sotheby's New York.

Reflections on art by Pieter Bergli

See also - https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/

For those readers that may enjoy a decent coffee anecdote or tale then please turn to my other blog for some interesting reading and my coffee narrative -   http://thegenteelworldofcoffee.blogspot.com/    

Thank you


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We have lived no ordinary life - art, culture and our humanity by Pieter Bergli

For all that can be said, through all the trials and tears, truly we have lived no ordinary life as the history of civilizations often remind us through the form of art.

There are those of us in society that question the value of a blob of jam plastered on the wall as a spectacle as if meaning to say something, to reach down into our souls and search for answers to the thousand perplexities that riddle human life on a daily basis. 

But question they do and indeed that becomes the very right for each and every individual in turn to become admirer or cynic to every piece of art that becomes a source of inspiration or down right annoyance. From the dawn of civilization noble men have laid down their lives in self-sacrifice for this very belief in freedom of speech and ideas in balance and respect with the ideas of others that collectively group to form the very threads of society itself. Liberal and individualistic spirit of expression working within the union of the collective mass becomes the very dynamic engine for the growth of social order through the ages.

At times great men have been gone through more than their fair share of persecution for their ideas. But from the cauldron of fire came the birth of reason and the age of Enlightenment that unfettered men's minds to explore new thoughts and angles on the meaning of life. Within that great expansion that saw a medieval era become a modern age art has played a very powerful role in helping to shape men's minds because art in itself is a medium that is emotionally evocative and it is men's emotions that leads to all kinds of fields of inquiry in the search for answers in our universe. To say that a Newton or Einstein would not be moved by Mona Lisa would be tantamount of the denial of our very existence for their is no life that we could possibly know of without the need for expression of our feelings and our reasons. Ill-equipped  would be our lives would be attempt to constrict and prohibit our emotions and the need to capture a scene of the sky or land and water on canvas, in oils or in ink or water color or whatever medium we can to convey the image that had driven us to share with others. Thus art not only becomes a medium of expression but also an ingredient for personal satisfaction when an onlooker can gaze over a painting and feel the warmth of tranquility seeping into the mind, having searched for answers in a painting and found some reason to feel contentment.

Ultimately the main value of art today becomes it's timelessness hence its endearing value in the eyes of those that seek to obtain the work of a master that flourished in ages long since gone but whose memories are vividly recalled through the creations on canvas or in stone. There can only be one Rembrandt, a single Turner, an only Picasso to tell the stories that they had lived through their eyes and whose sentiments are forever captured in art to remember. Therein, lies the value of art today in its function to remind us of the ideas of old and the ideas of the new today. Long gone are the days when an individual spirit may need to take the dreaded Hemlock and lay down his life for fear of corrupting the youth. Past but not forgotten are the times when forced recantation could mainstay a dogma to hold back the progress of human thought as times would change and needs would differ. The world of art is indeed a fascinating landscape of mankind and the expression of human passion. The social scientist Jacob Bronowoski b. 1908 d. 1974, in his book 'The Ascent of Man', wrote as follows: "Man has also become an architect of his environment, but he does not command forces as powerful as those of nature".  Yet what level of genius that a JMW Turner could look into the face of a storm and capture that very moment of violent squall and fear as light and shadow and mastery of color and brush stroke would eloquently bring to life the dread of the moment. Man indeed truly is the architect of his environment and architect of such evocative pieces of art that would terrify the mortal soul or bring forth such tears of joy in the presence of the Divine.

We have lived no ordinary life in spite our foibles; an art has been at the forefront of the story of civilization to render the shape of our very humanity.

  

                                            ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

See also - https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/

For those readers that may enjoy a decent coffee anecdote or tale then please turn to my other blog for some interesting reading and my coffee narrative -   http://thegenteelworldofcoffee.blogspot.com/      

Thank you,

Yours sincerely,

Pieter Bergli - art collector, cafe enthusiast and bon vivant!


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Women of Algiers 1955 by Pablo Picasso sold for $179.3m commentary by Pieter Bergli

Sensational sale this week at auctioneers Christies in New York.

Title -  Women of Algiers 1955  by  Pablo Picasso b.1881 d.1973, famous Spanish painter. The oil on canvas was sensationally sold yesterday at Christies New York for a staggering $179.3m. This Picasso piece breaks the world record for the most expensive artwork ever sold at an auction. Altogether the auction was quickly and furiously settled in a staggering 100 seconds! Before the opening of the bidding, in 11 minutes of opening argument, the stage was inevitably set for opening bids at $140m. the sale represents one of the most famous sales of a work of art in the history of auctioneers Christies.

Reflections on art and its values by Pieter Bergli

See also - https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/

For those readers that may enjoy a decent coffee anecdote or tale then please turn to my other blog for some interesting reading and my coffee narrative -   http://thegenteelworldofcoffee.blogspot.com/     

 * European Union laws require that all visitors to this blog from the European Union are aware that cookies are used by Blogger and Google, including the use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies and in reading all material from this blog readers based in the European Union  hereby do consent to the use of such cookies for use by
Google Analytics and AdSense

Welcome to my portal into the world of art.

From the darkest moments of stone age society to the early 21st century millennial; mankind has always sought to find inspiration in nature and demonstrate an expression of emotion to share ideas and thoughts.

It was 1997 when i first realized what a wonderful world the world of art could be. I bought my first three pieces, oils on canvas, from a mediocre French artist for about 1000 Fr each. Doubtless the pieces were very poor cubist renditions but then again i was moved to think again as the spark lit up in my mind and idea for a quick profit soon came to view before my young and starry eyes. Promptly I snapped up the pieces from the melancholy creator and then carried the pieces unframed in a brown large envelope in the heart of fair Paris. It wasn't too long either before I could find some curious Parisienne hotelier and very quickly I convinced the client to plaster the pieces on the wall for double price! Scratching my head in bemusement I could not help wondering what would move a man's heart to find inspiration from a dull picture i would rather throw out the window! but that's the beauty of art; the subjectivity of emotional responses. If an onlooker can find inspiration in a blob of jelly on a plate cast on a wall and then go on to write a major novel, then art for art's sake, so be it!

This is a  blog all about the world of art and what moves humanity to create and express ideas in any form.

I sincerely hope that my readers will find enjoyment, inspiration and refreshed information about topics in the world of art.

For those readers who would like to enjoy other topics such as the world of coffee and its rich history, or perhaps the world of professional currency trading, please turn to my 2 other blogs on Blogger at - 

1.     http://www.thegenteelworldofcoffee.blogspot.com/    

and 

2.    http://www.forexeducationperspective.blogspot.com/

and of course we cannot omit Pinterest and so to discover my own portal into the world of art please see - 

3.  My art musings - 

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/the-world-of-art/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/the-world-of-art-2/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/the-world-of-art-3/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/zen-solitude-and-cafe/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/the-world-of-art-and-romance-through-the-ages/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/grace-adoration-and-beauty/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/cafe-jeunesse/

https://www.pinterest.com/myartmusings/reflections-of-stillness-and-tranquility/

Thank you,

Yours sincerely

By Pieter Bergli -  Art and coffee collector, enthusiast and teacher.

 * European Union laws require that all visitors to this blog from the European Union are aware that cookies are used by Blogger and Google, including the use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies and in reading all material from this blog readers based in the European Union hereby do consent to the use of such cookies for use by
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