Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga,Spain in 1881.When he died in 1973,he was ninety-one years old. But he still took up his paints and brushes to start a new picture as if he were seeing things for the first time,which is why we have called him the youngest painter. Young people are always trying new things and new ways of doing things. They don't hesitate to attempt one thing after another. Eager to experiment, they welcome new ideas.
When he was over ninety this great painter still lived his life like a young man. He was still restlessly looking new ideas and new ways to use his artistic materials. No one knew what to expect from him next. No one could be sure what kind of picture he would produce. If he had painted a picture of you, it might have looked exactly like you. Or it might have been all lines, squares, circles and strange-colored shapes. It might not have looked like human at all.
At such times Picasso was trying to paint what he saw with his mind as well as with his eyes. He put in the side of the face as well as the front. He may have painted it flat, as though it had no depth. Sometimes he seemed to paint just as a child painted, simply for his own pleasure. He didn't imitate others.
Most painters discover a style of painting that suits themselves and stick to that, especially if people admire their pictures. But Picasso was like a man who had not yet found his own particular style of painting. He was still struggling to find perfect expression for his own uneasy spirit.
The first thing one noticed about him was the look of his large, wide-open eyes. Gertrude Stein, a famous American writer who knew him in his youth, mentioned this hungry look, and one can still see it in pictures of him today.
Picasso painted a picture of Gertrude Stein in 1906. She visited the painter's studio eighty or ninety times while he painted her picture. While Picasso painted they talked about everything in the world that interested them. Then one day Picasso wiped out the painted head on which he had worked for so long. "When I look at you I can't see you any more!" he said.
Picasso went away for the summer. When he returned he went at once to the unfinished picture in the corner of his studio. Quickly he finished the face from memory. He could see the woman's face more clearly in his mind than he could see it when she sat in the studio in front of him.
Picasso was often attacked for this new, sometimes frightening style. It produced pictures like some of our worst dreams. The camera has made it unnecessary for painters to make exact representations of what they see. A camera can reflect real life more exactly. What great paintings give us is a view of life through one man's eyes, and every man's view is different.
【小题1】The example of the picture of Gertrude Stein is raised mainly to indicate Picasso ________.A.was particular about his works |
B.used more of his mind to paint |
C.was a man of responsibility |
D.was not appreciated at his time |
A.Picasso's paintings are beyond some people's comprehension |
B.Picasso's paintings are too frightening |
C.Picasso paints from his unique perspective |
D.cameras are better at presenting real life |
A.Frightening and unpredictable. |
B.Concrete and straightforward. |
C.Abstract and unconventional. |
D.Rigid and unusual. |
A.The youngest painter in the world |
B.What to expect from Picasso |
C.How Picasso developed his way of painting |
D.The greatest painter the world has ever seen |