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[[File:Picasso la vie.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Pablo Picasso]]<br /> ''La Vie'' (1903),<br />Oil on canvas, 196.5 x 129.2 cm<br />[[Cleveland Museum of Art]]]] |
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'''''La Vie''''' is a c.1903 painting by the [[Spanish]] [[modernism|modern]] artist [[Pablo Picasso]]. It is the largest single work created during Picasso's [[Blue Period]], which spanned from 1901-1904. |
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[[Gustave Geffroy]] was a French novelist and art critic, noted as one of the earliest historians of [[Impressionism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dictionaryofarthistorians.org/geffroyg.htm |title=Geffroy, Gustave |publisher=Dictionary of Art Historians |accessdate=2011-4-30}}</ref> In March 1894, Geffroy wrote a sympathetic article in his periodical ''Le Journal'' praising the work of painter [[Paul Cézanne]], who until then had received little praise in critical circles.<ref name=Newton>Newton, 41-42</ref> Mutual friend [[Claude Monet]] arranged for a meeting between the two in November of that year, which ended abruptly due to Cézanne's oft-noted erratic behavior.<ref name=MurphyA>Murphy, 100-01</ref> Nonetheless, Geffroy continued to write favorably of Cézanne, believing "He is a great teller of truth. Passionate and candid, silent and subtle, he will go to [[The Louvre]]."<ref name=MurphyB>Murphy, 163-64</ref> Cézanne expressed thanks in letters to Geffroy in the months following their meeting, and, in a display of gratitude (and possible feeling Geffroy understood him), he elected to paint Geffroy's [[portrait]].<ref name=Newton/> |
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The painter sent the critic a request in April 1895, after which Geffroy sat for Cézanne on a daily basis over a span of three months in the study at his home in [[Paris]].<ref name=MurphyA/> After the three months' time, Cézanne, disappointed with the portrait's results, fled both the painting and Paris itself for his home in [[Aix-en-Provence]]. In a July 6th letter to Monet, he explained, "I am a little upset at the meager result I obtained, especially after so many sittings and successive bursts of enthusiasm and despair."<ref>Wadley, 103</ref> It has also been speculated, despite his words of gratitude in the same letter to Monet of Geffroy's patience over the three month span, the artist had built up feelings of resentment, even hostility, toward the critic, causing his abandonment of the project for seclusion in Aix.<ref name=Howard>Howard, 135</ref> Reasons for the breakdown in relations on Cézanne's part have been attributed to everything from politics to artistic principles to religion.<ref name=Newton/><ref name=Orsay>{{cite web|url=http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/gustave-geffroy-10542.html?tx_commentaire_pi1%5BpidLi%5D=509&tx_commentaire_pi1%5Bfrom%5D=841&cHash=ed05bba678 |title=Paul Cézanne: Gustave Geffroy |publisher=Musée d'Orsay |date=2006 |accessdate=2011-4-30}}</ref> |
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Despite its incomplete status, and Cézanne's own displeasure with the painting, ''Portrait of Gustave Geffroy'' was a popular retrospective work after Cézanne's death.<ref name=Orsay/> [[Cubist]] painters were interested in the [[geometry|geometrical]] dimensions of the bookcase and [[perspective (visual)|perspective]] of vast table space in relation to the rest of the picture.<ref name=Orsay/> Geffroy noted Cézanne painted the entire canvas at once, leaving the face and hands for last, and ultimately unfinished.<ref name=Howard/><ref name=Orsay/> It has been described as an [[angle|angular]] composition, with the figure of Geffroy centered as a pyramidal or triangular figure, and surrounding shelves, books, and figurines complementing and converging upon his profile.<ref>Wadley, 59</ref> The multiple angles of perspective, particularly with the books both in cases and on the table, have been noted for their "zig-zag" effect on the viewer, creating movement within the painting.<ref name=Howard/> |
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[[File:Edgar Degas Portrait of Duranty.jpg|left|thumb|150px|[[Edgar Degas]]: ''Portrait of Duranty'', 1879<br />Oil on canvas, 100.6 x 100.6 cm<br />[[Burrell Collection]], [[Glasgow]]]] |
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The portrait has been noted as a continuation of Cézanne's recurring theme: people in their natural environment, reserved and unimposing, immersed in their everyday tasks.<ref name=Schapiro>Schapiro, 100</ref> It has also been compared to the earlier ''Portrait of Duranty'' by [[Edgar Degas]], from which critics have speculated Cézanne drew inspiration.<ref name=Howard/><ref name=Orsay/> |
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The painting was donated to the [[Republic of France|French state]] in 1969 by the family of collector Auguste Pellerin<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nga.gov.au/exhibition/masterpiecesfromparis/Default.cfm?IRN=191186&BioArtistIRN=21796&MnuID=SRCH&ArtistIRN=21796&ViewID=2 |title=Gustave Geffroy 1895-96 |publisher=National Gallery of Australia |date=2009 |accessdate=2011-4-30}}</ref> and is displayed at the [[Musée d'Orsay]] in Paris. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Sources== |
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Latest revision as of 08:59, 8 June 2011
La Vie (1903),
Oil on canvas, 196.5 x 129.2 cm
Cleveland Museum of Art
La Vie is a c.1903 painting by the Spanish modern artist Pablo Picasso. It is the largest single work created during Picasso's Blue Period, which spanned from 1901-1904.