This concrete drawing is of the 20 year old Sylvette, Picasso's muse, whom he met in the spring of 1954. Picasso was already 73 years old at the time. He drew her with her head proudly raised, slender neck and her hair in a ponytail high on her head. Sylvette served as a model for approximately forty drawings, paintings and small spatial installations made of metal. He depicted her in all the different styles he had ever used in his life as an artist, including the cubist style, which he had developed with Georges Braque at the beginning of the 20th century. This Sylvette The series illustrated the development of modern art, and more precisely, Picasso's development as an artist. The series also influenced fashion in Paris. Girls with Picasso-style hairstyles and proud poses filled the streets in the 1950s. In 1957, Picasso met the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who invented a new technique for creating large structures. Small black stones were cast into the concrete. Sandblasting revealed the black color, allowing drawings to be made in the concrete. Picasso was impressed and, using Nesjar's technique, enlarged his drawings into monumental installations. The Rotterdam City Council's Urban Beautification Committee wanted to purchase such a concrete sculpture in 1963, but the public was not particularly enthusiastic about a concrete colossus. In 1971, Rotterdam finally got "its Picasso." Construction Center purchased the work and donated it to the Municipality of Rotterdam as part of the C70, a post-war event celebrating the reconstruction of Rotterdam. Picasso's sculpture was intended to underscore the city's modern and progressive character. Picasso and Nesjar enlarged a tin sculpture to a seven-and-a-half-meter-high and four-and-a-half-meter-wide Sylvette, sandblasted on front and back. For more information: Sculpture International Rotterdam.
The Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (Málaga, 1881 – Mougins, 1973) is considered one of the most versatile artists of the twentieth century. He was not only a painter and printmaker, but also a sculptor and ceramicist. His work underwent radical changes throughout his career, and he played a role in most of the important art movements of the first half of the twentieth century. His exceptional talent for drawing was evident from an early age, and he attended art schools in Madrid and Barcelona. In 1904, he left Spain for Montmartre in Paris and became acquainted with artists such as Georges Braque and Amadeo Modigliani. Picasso's first sculptures date from around 1910, the Cubist period. Around 1930, he again produced several bronze sculptures. Around the same time, his compatriot Julio González taught him the assemblage technique, and Picasso created three-dimensional "collages" in iron. Later, Dadaist-inspired assemblages emerged, workings from scrap metal and found objects, and bronze sculptures in diverse styles. He also made models from sheet metal, which he then drew or painted. After the Second World War, Picasso produced a great deal of ceramics. In 1948, he had his own ceramics workshop in the village of Vallauris, in the south of France. There, in 1954, he met Sylvette David, then nineteen years old, the daughter of a Parisian art dealer who was temporarily staying in Vallauris. She provided the inspiration for a series of forty drawings, paintings, and spatial studies.
In 1957, Picasso met the Norwegian sculptor Carl Nesjar (1920 – 2015). A seventeen-year collaboration began with him, resulting in the enlargement of various models in cardboard and sheet metal in concrete, including several portraits of Sylvette. For years, Picasso's three-dimensional work was not nearly as well-known as his paintings, drawings and prints, until several major retrospective exhibitions of his sculptures changed that in 1960.
On the sidewalk near Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Description
Concrete sculpture of girl silhouette
Materials
Betonboorder
Dimensions
4.5 x 2 x 7.5 m
years
1970
Client
Construction Center
Money source
Private, purchase through the Bouwcentrum
Owner
Municipality of Rotterdam
Part of
About the artwork
This concrete drawing is of the 20 year old Sylvette, Picasso's muse, whom he met in the spring of 1954. Picasso was already 73 years old at the time. He drew her with her head proudly raised, slender neck and her hair in a ponytail high on her head. Sylvette served as a model for approximately forty drawings, paintings and small spatial installations made of metal. He depicted her in all the different styles he had ever used in his life as an artist, including the cubist style, which he had developed with Georges Braque at the beginning of the 20th century. This Sylvette The series illustrated the development of modern art, and more precisely, Picasso's development as an artist. The series also influenced fashion in Paris. Girls with Picasso-style hairstyles and proud poses filled the streets in the 1950s. In 1957, Picasso met the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, who invented a new technique for creating large structures. Small black stones were cast into the concrete. Sandblasting revealed the black color, allowing drawings to be made in the concrete. Picasso was impressed and, using Nesjar's technique, enlarged his drawings into monumental installations. The Rotterdam City Council's Urban Beautification Committee wanted to purchase such a concrete sculpture in 1963, but the public was not particularly enthusiastic about a concrete colossus. In 1971, Rotterdam finally got "its Picasso." Construction Center purchased the work and donated it to the Municipality of Rotterdam as part of the C70, a post-war event celebrating the reconstruction of Rotterdam. Picasso's sculpture was intended to underscore the city's modern and progressive character. Picasso and Nesjar enlarged a tin sculpture to a seven-and-a-half-meter-high and four-and-a-half-meter-wide Sylvette, sandblasted on front and back. For more information: Sculpture International Rotterdam.
The Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (Málaga, 1881 – Mougins, 1973) is considered one of the most versatile artists of the twentieth century. He was not only a painter and printmaker, but also a sculptor and ceramicist. His work underwent radical changes throughout his career, and he played a role in most of the important art movements of the first half of the twentieth century. His exceptional talent for drawing was evident from an early age, and he attended art schools in Madrid and Barcelona. In 1904, he left Spain for Montmartre in Paris and became acquainted with artists such as Georges Braque and Amadeo Modigliani. Picasso's first sculptures date from around 1910, the Cubist period. Around 1930, he again produced several bronze sculptures. Around the same time, his compatriot Julio González taught him the assemblage technique, and Picasso created three-dimensional "collages" in iron. Later, Dadaist-inspired assemblages emerged, workings from scrap metal and found objects, and bronze sculptures in diverse styles. He also made models from sheet metal, which he then drew or painted. After the Second World War, Picasso produced a great deal of ceramics. In 1948, he had his own ceramics workshop in the village of Vallauris, in the south of France. There, in 1954, he met Sylvette David, then nineteen years old, the daughter of a Parisian art dealer who was temporarily staying in Vallauris. She provided the inspiration for a series of forty drawings, paintings, and spatial studies.
In 1957, Picasso met the Norwegian sculptor Carl Nesjar (1920 – 2015). A seventeen-year collaboration began with him, resulting in the enlargement of various models in cardboard and sheet metal in concrete, including several portraits of Sylvette. For years, Picasso's three-dimensional work was not nearly as well-known as his paintings, drawings and prints, until several major retrospective exhibitions of his sculptures changed that in 1960.
On the sidewalk near Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Description
Concrete sculpture of girl silhouette
Materials
Betonboorder
Dimensions
4.5 x 2 x 7.5 m
years
1970
Client
Construction Center
Money source
Private, purchase through the Bouwcentrum
Owner
Municipality of Rotterdam
Part of
Pablo Picasso, Carl Nesjar -
Sylvette (1970)
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