tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post260220757588428385..comments2024-03-16T06:23:29.917-07:00Comments on The Reverberate Hills; or The Apotheosis of the Narwhal: Picasso in the parkPatrick J. Vazhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-35972562126087572512011-10-05T08:47:05.672-07:002011-10-05T08:47:05.672-07:00Yes to all that you say: and I think also people a...Yes to all that you say: and I think also people are simply intimidated by the ease and consistent quality and inventiveness. You'd think they'd be generous enough to appreciate it, but, you know: people. . . .<br /><br />His was an extraordinary and blessed life.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-83056547690149504092011-10-05T08:06:14.678-07:002011-10-05T08:06:14.678-07:00Patrick, yes, exactly. There's a notion that c...Patrick, yes, exactly. There's a notion that creation should involve suffering and revision, and Picasso's endless inventiveness and constant flow of new work, his apparent ease of creation and his joy in it, are completely contrary to that notion. So there must be something cheap or vulgar about it! He is not suffering for his art! Although I am sure some people think it was an unhealthy compulsion!<br /><br />I can only look at it in amazement. He created art on a daily basis for his entire long life, much of it of seminal importance, and died quickly in his bed of a heart attack at age 91 after painting until 3 a.m. the previous night. What a life.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-86128503604085049372011-10-04T08:09:25.640-07:002011-10-04T08:09:25.640-07:00Lisa: There does often seem to be a weird reaction...Lisa: There does often seem to be a weird reaction to the prolific, as if fecundity in itself were a bad quality (I'm thinking of attacks on various 19th-century novelists, or in our time on Joyce Carol Oates). Who really knows what is ultimately going to last? I too remember when Picasso's last work was thought a falling-off -- I think "vulgar" was the usual word, which is kind of funny, because it seems like just another way of saying "vital," which is what the paintings look like now.<br /><br />SFMike: I got the impression the skateboarders were regulars there, so it's good there's one source of happiness for you near City Hall.Patrick J. Vazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09279528648512493917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-408203351555666792011-10-03T23:01:52.627-07:002011-10-03T23:01:52.627-07:00Skateboarders make me happy to be a Californian fo...Skateboarders make me happy to be a Californian for some reason, and they always will.Civic Centerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12362422142667230626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22361479.post-79319046565755519732011-10-03T22:09:28.910-07:002011-10-03T22:09:28.910-07:00"What the DeYoung exhibit brought out is how ..."What the DeYoung exhibit brought out is how incredibly inventive, original, and influential Picasso was." EXACTLY. A truly prodigious life. And I remember when critics were still denigrating the endless stream of work as though it somehow cheapened his achievements. I assume he is laughing madly at them, at the late work is reassessed with some perspective and found....brilliant.Lisa Hirschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014924958428072675noreply@blogger.com