Books by Anne Baldassari
Bacon Picasso
Francis Bacon was so inspired by the Picasso exhibit in 1927 at the Paul Rosenberg gallery in Paris that he decided to dedicate himself to painting. From that point onward, he established and maintained a multifaceted relationship with Picasso's work. The visual, thematic, and philosophical aspects of the virtual dialogue that ensued between the two artists centered around what Bacon called "the brutality of fact" that linked his work to that of Picasso. Bacon-Picasso examines the work of the two artists through their common themes: the crucifixion, the kiss, the scream, and the studio portrait/self-portrait. The juxtaposition of paintings clearly demonstrates the ways in which Bacon appropriated Picasso's work into his own art. This volume, co-published with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, draws from prestigious international collections including the Tate Gallery, London, Musée National Picasso and Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, Moderna Museet (Stockholm), and Fondation Beyeler, Basel.
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Matisse Picasso
by Henri Matisse, Anne Baldassari, Elizabeth Cowling, Pablo Picasso, John Golding, Isabelle Monod-Fontaine
Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso have long been seen as the twin giants of modern art, as polar opposites but also as complementary figures. Between them they are the originators of many of the most significant innovations of 20th-century painting and sculpture, but their relationship has rarely been explored in all of its closeness and complexity. In spite of their initial rivalry, the two masters eventually acknowledged one another as equals, becoming, in their old age, increasingly important to one another both artistically and personally. From the time of their initial encounters in 1906 in Gertrude and Leo Stein's Paris studio until 1917, they individually produced some of the greatest art of the 20th century and maintained an openly competitive relationship brimming with intense innovation. This period saw them create such works as Picasso's majestic "Woman with a Fan" of 1908 and Matisse's great portrait of his wife of 1913. Matisse responds to Synthetic Cubism in his "Piano Lesson" of 1916 and Picasso comes back in turn with a new, more decorative Cubism in "Three Musicians" of 1921. The 20s saw them grow apart, as Matisse moved from Paris to Nice and Picasso became involved with the Surrealists, but the 30s brought them together again, through their sheer fame and devotion to reality-based art. Their story continues until Matisse's death in 1954, when Picasso paid his friend and colleague tribute in his series Women of Algiers, of which he said, "When Matisse died, he left his odalisques to me as a legacy." Matisse Picasso presents the artists' oeuvres in groupings that reveal the affinities but also the extreme contrasts of their artistic visions. Published to accompany the landmark exhibition, a joint effort of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Tate Modern, London; the Raunion des musaes nationaux/Musae Picasso and the Musae national d'art moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Matisse Picasso is the first major examination of the fascinating relationships between their art, their careers, and their lives. Thirty-four essays, each by a member of the exhibition's curatorial team, focus on a particular moment in the artists' evolving relationship. The authors present in-depth analyses of specific aspects of the unique artistic dialogue between Matisse and Picasso as reflected in selected juxtapositions of each artist's works. These texts are accompanied by an introductory history, commentary on the public perception of important artistic relationships, and an extensive chronology.
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The Surrealist Picasso
Between 1924 and 1934, Picasso's oeuvre developed dramatically. During this decade, the artist maintained a complex relationship with the burgeoning and hugely influential Surrealist movement. Eventually, he diverted from Surrealism to form a variant known as Supra-realism. This volume presents an integrated analysis of the whole of Picasso's artistic creation during the Surrealist period. Thematic texts reveal the extraordinary wealth of Picasso's work during this time. It begins with a study of his research on theater and ballet from 1914-23 and subsequently examines Picasso's work in painting, sculpture, and works on paper. This comprehensive account concludes with a study of the body of Picasso's work from 1935-40. These formative years, during which civil war raged in Picasso's native Spain, laid the groundwork for the increasingly political content of his later works. A detailed, fully illustrated chronology at the end of the book places this crucial period in its full intellectual and historical context.
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