Glass, Guitar and Bottle, Paris, early 1913
Oil, pasted paper, gesso and pencil on canvas
Pablo Picasso
Going back to the guys who started collage, here are some photos that I took at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) when I was in New York recently (please forgive the bad photography). MOMA is on the side of Picasso as the “guy who was first to make a collage” debate. That means that Braque was the guy to follow suit. Who am I to argue with the art historians at MOMA. Of course, maybe some other artist who didn’t get a mention in the history books started collage and Picasso is getting undo credit. But I’m an artist not an art historian and didn't plow through records and examine paintings and all they things they do in an effort to get the record straight. I don’t want to go creating some crazy conspiracy theory after all (did I mention that I was an X Files fan).
Guitar, Summer 1913
Gesso, pasted paper, charcoal, pencil and gouache on canvas
Georges Braque
And speaking of who was/is first, it is of course nice to get credit for being first but the truth of the matter is that we are are all influenced by the world around us. It's a human condition as far as I can tell. I'm the first to admit to being very easily influenced, like a bird going after a piece of something sparkly. Yet it's also true that we all can't help but be our original selves by just breathing. No one else breathes like you do. Despite influences, I believe that if we work very hard to absorb them, respect them, hold them up to the light and examine them, we can then step back and influence how the influence will influence us. You might say it's a form of construction/deconstruction/ construction.
Cezanne had this to say about a new take on an old idea: "The day is coming when a single carrot freshly observed will set off a revolution." Go paint a carrot!
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