Pablo Picasso is one of the most influential and renowned artists of the 20th century. His works span multiple fields, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics, and he spearheaded several major art movements, most notably Cubism. Picasso's artistic career was incredibly prolific and varied, with his style evolving over time. His key periods include the Blue Period, Rose Period, African art-inspired period, Cubism, Neoclassicism, and Surrealism.
Key Features:
Innovation and Breakthroughs: Picasso, along with Georges Braque, co-founded Cubism, which revolutionized the way space and form were perceived in art.
Famous Works: These include Les Demoiselles d'Avignon and Guernica, the latter renowned for its powerful anti-war theme.
Diverse Mediums and Techniques: Picasso frequently experimented with new mediums, including collage, sculpture, and ceramics, in addition to traditional painting.
Interplay of Art and Personal Life: His works often reflected his emotions and life experiences, such as his lovers, friends, and his views on politics and war.
Picasso is regarded not only as a pinnacle of art history but also as a symbol of artistic freedom. His name has become synonymous with creativity, leaving a profound impact on future generations of artists.
At least since his spectacular exhibition in the Romanian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015, Adrian Ghenie (*1977 in Baia Mare, Romania) has been known to the broad public as one of the most interesting and unconventional painters of his generation. His works―painted in oils that have been scratched, applied with a palette knife, orthrown onto the canvas―have already gained entry into the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, and have achieved one auction record after another in the art market. Yet neither Ghenie’s subjects nor his technique cater to the taste of the public: the history of the “century of humiliation”―which is how Ghenie refers tothe twentieth century―its perpetrators and victims are the most important sources for his collage-like compositions. These subjects are joined by his positive heroes alike, such as Van Gogh and Darwin, and time after time, his self portrait.