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Home , Las Meninas, Las Meninas (Picasso)

LESSON TWO: The Artist at Work

8 L E S S O N S

IMAGE FOUR: Diego Velázquez. 1599–1660. IMAGE FIVE: Pablo . Spanish, 1881–1973. or The Family of Philip IV. 1656. Las Meninas (Group). 1957. Oil on canvas, 1 1 Oil on canvas, 10' 5" x 9' 1" (318 x 276 cm). 2' ⁄2" x 8' ⁄2" (194 x 260 cm). , , . Photo by Erich . Donated by the Artist. © 2006 Artists Lessing/Art Resource, New York Rights Society (ARS), New York

IMAGE SIX: . Spanish, 1881–1973. IMAGE SEVEN: Pablo Picasso. Spanish, 1881–1973. 1 1 Peintre et modèle tricotant (Painter and model Painter and Model. 1928. Oil on canvas, 51 ⁄8 x 64 ⁄4" knitting) from Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu by (129.8 x 163 cm). The , Honoré de Balzac. Etchings executed 1927–1931, New York. The Sidney and Harriet Janis Collection. published 1931. Etching from an illustrated book © 2006 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights of 13 etchings and 67 wood engravings. Plate: Society (ARS), New York 9 15 5 15 7 ⁄16 x 10 ⁄16" (19.3 x 27.8 cm); page: 12 ⁄16 x 9 ⁄16" (33 x 25.2 cm). Publisher: Ambroise Vollard, Édi- teur, Paris. Printer: Louis Fort and Aimé Jourde, Paris. Edition: 340. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Louis E. Stern Collection, 1964. © 2006 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York 9 LESSONS and Picasso’s eas to focus on another awing that is being created. , at themselves also represent but should limit their comments to their s The Family of Philip IV or , to see what the describer is not allowed self-portraits Las Meninas Ask students in each of the ar and the describer oom. eflect what is going on in the room as a whole.eflect what is going on in the room How does each your students should discuss the process. Ask them what was the they must not comment on the dr Decide which rules you want to apply or take turns trying them all Decide which rules you want to apply or take , . e— etc , and ask them to select five words that describe each of the paintings. and ask them to select five words awing awing eas in your classr . awer is dr The activity works best when the drawers and describers switch roles. and describers The activity works best when the drawers After ten minutes ganize your students into pairs.“drawer” Assign one student to be the and the other to be aw what they hear being described, group the same? Ask your students why this might or might not be the case. the same? group does this What Ask them to share their descriptive words with the class. their descriptive words Ask them to share “Las that Inform your students Meninas” means “the maids-in-waiting.” out. of describing and dr most challenging part of the exercise. about the ways in which individual to your students Talk and language play into this exercise. perception Las Meninas (Group) area and take ten minutes to sketch or write a descriptive paragraph about what is going on or write a descriptive paragraph ten minutes to sketch and take area in that area. of the class. with the rest their observations share Have your students Ask your students if their descriptions r any descriptions within Are his or her particular point of view? observation reflect student’s a about their point of view? reveal Velázquez’s Show your students Diego To further explore differences between what is seen and what is recorded or documented, between what is seen and what is recorded differences further explore To identify four ar description of the imag that can be applied to this exercise, various additional rules are There for instance: drawer the is not allowed to ask the describer any questions the dr Students will consider how an artist renders his point of view or perception of an experience his point of view or perception Students will consider how an artist renders as an image Or “describer.”the pencil and paper and give the describer an image—it Give the drawer can be a reproduction, a postcard, a newspaper or magazine. from or a picture The describer must describe the object to the drawer; must not see the image. the drawer should The drawers dr Students will consider how an artist relates to other artists and artworks in the . to other artists and artworks how an artist relates Students will consider information about his or her process. an artist chooses to share how Students will explore in society. to his or her role ideas relating Students will consider how an artist communicates IMAGE-BASED DISCUSSION • • • DISCUSSION INTRODUCTORY • • • • work with the elements or tools of tools with or work the elements their craft—easel, palette, model, of works other and/or art. of images Such craft her and his or importance to the artist accord to serve at work society. to relative role articulate the artist’s images of creating By at work, themselves artists in this themselves also represented artists other to who in relation have position themselves manner. with in dialogue their work the history place ofthey self-consciously this way In art. ofPicasso participated representations creating in this tradition by not only himself at work, ofhis own versions creating also by but self-representation. artist’s another LESSON OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION in likeness their artists record Often not only • Three hundred years separate these works. Ask your students to place them in what they think is the chronological order.Ask them to use visual evidence to explain their decision.

Velázquez (1599–1660), to Philip IV of , was given a studio in the royal palace in which to create works of art for the king as well as portraits and grand paintings documenting the king’s achievements.

In Las Meninas,Velázquez depicts himself pausing in the act of painting, demonstrating that his craft requires action and reflection. Indeed, all the figures seem to be caught in an instance between one position and another: the maids are in the process of leaning in toward the princess, who is in the process of turning her head; a couple in the background engage in a conversation; a man on the stairs casts a backward glance before proceeding on his way; and 10 a small boy in the foreground mischievously nudges a dog with his foot. L E S S O Amid the many large works of art hung in the room, a beside the open door reflects N S the image of King Philip IV and Queen Mariana. They appear to be looking at their five- year-old daughter and her entourage, which includes maids-in-waiting, a dwarf (a common fixture in the Spanish royal court at the time), and a dog. Indeed, they are the subject of the painting Velázquez is working on, but the painter has given himself prominence and thereby accorded himself more importance. In this sense, the painting is both a portrait of the royal family and a self-portrait of the artist that not only shows us what he looks like and how he works, but also his notoriety: the royal family are his clients—they come to him to have their portrait painted.

• Having shared this information with your class, ask your students to imagine what is depicted on Velázquez’s canvas in this painting. Have your students support their description with details of the room’s spatial arrangement. Velázquez is actually creating a portrait of the king and queen, which we see reflected in the mirror.

• Ask your students to list the various characters in the painting in order of importance, based on their observation of the arrangement of the composition.

As a teen-ager Picasso had gone to see Las Meninas in the Museo del Prado,where it still hangs, and made copies of it. Later on in his career, when he was a well-known artist, he copied Las Meninas again, feeling that he must study and understand the great artists who had preceded him. Rather than make an exact replica of the painting, he created over fifty versions inspired by it. Several years prior to this project, Picasso had hypothesized the following:

If someone set out to copy Las Meninas, in all good faith, let’s say, when getting to a cer- tain point, and if the person doing the copying were me, I would say to myself: how would it be if I put this one a little to the right or the left? I would try to do it in my way, forget- ting Velázquez. The attempt would lead me, certainly, to modify the light or change it, because of having moved a figure around. So, little by little, I would paint my Meninas which would appear detestable to the professional copyist; they wouldn’t be the ones he would believe he had seen in Velázquez’s canvas, but they would be “my” Meninas....”5

• Having read this passage aloud to your students, ask them to identify what changes Picasso made to Velázquez’s Las Meninas. Ask them to consider how the meaning of the painting has changed based on his modifications. Students might observe that Picasso has made the painter much larger in his version, and that the mirror now seems to reflect one face rather than two.

5. Pablo Picasso, quoted in Museu Picasso Guide (Barcelona: Museu Picasso, 1998), 94. LESSONS 11 . . Both works Painter and Model which runs across the painting. which runs across and , modeling and ask them to describe what is happening and ask them to describe what is happening on the canvas based on the model at left, s 7 , 264. oom’ ofile and ask them to list the elements of the painting pr , which sits the artist, before in a yellow chair, pallet 8 Painter and model knitting Theories ofArt Modern ry, titled “The Unknown Masterpiece,”is about a seventeenth-cen- ry, Masterpiece,”is “The Unknown titled act web of lines that does not seem to capture the likeness of the the likeness act web of lines that does not seem to capture o Painter and Model to have outlined a Painter and model knitting 6 s he st act art.You must always startact art.You with always something. must can remove you Afterward , in Chipp, T r left us his idea of the people of his epoch. of the people of left us his idea different were Undoubtedly they ] c. sic alza Statement about creating art.about creating The artist in each looks at a model, what is ultimately but B He appear above the horizontal lines of the r e e is no abst e tist who for ten years worked on one painting one of on worked years ten tist who for that, a nude upon completion, was r ré d court painter,Velázquez was responsible for documenting his time. for documenting was responsible court painter,Velázquez However, Picasso recog- ar ound, he sk your students to come up with other examples where the experience of an event and the the experience up with other examples where sk your students to come no y ecord of it in writing,ecord photograph, newspaper report, different. were or television broadcast T all traces of then, no danger reality. There’s anyway, because of the idea the object will have mark.left an indelible is what started It the artist off, his ideas, excited and stirred up his emotions. will and emotions be in his work. in the end prisoners Ideas they do, Whatever the picture. escape from they can’t from what he painted them, what he painted from the one any other way than conceive a Philip IV in but we cannot painted.” Velasquez Continue the discussion of these works by reading the following statement by Picasso aloud Continue the discussion of these works by reading to your students: Ask your students to compare Ask your students to compare Show your students Show your students A r As of what he saw, a replica was not simply to create primary concern the artist’s nized that but very particular way. what he saw in a information about to communicate Picasso noted, As [ “Velasquez In the center of the image is a canvas in hand. on a pedestal. sculptures which may in fact have been one of his own The contour of the painted profile, however, own than the model. is closer to Picasso’s In addition, on the image realistic,the canvas seems more of the painting, than the remainder less abstracted with its simple, flat, geometric shapes. appear in the back- work of art and two windows A framed gr in the picture. of creating the process about Picasso want the viewer to understand might What his model,Although the artist seems to closely observe art? a woman knitting, what appears on his canvas is an abstr woman at all. of art ar he sees. of what version or representational depicted is not a realistic Your students may also ask their parents or grandparents to identify a significant historical to identify a significant or grandparents students may also ask their parents Your event they experienced.event and collect historical docu- this students to research Ask your ments—photographs, newspapers, who initially them to the person present broadcasts—and described the event, to similarities and differences with respect that person interviewing and the historical documents. between his or her experience o ur 7. Ibid, 264. 8. Ibid, 270. 6. Picasso, Pablo • • • This etching is one of is one This etching a series of illustrations a book for of writer the French short by stories H • To further explore the concept of the concept further explore To truth in art, Picasso to by the following statement read students:your Art is not truth. that all know “We truth, us realize Art is a lie that makes at understand. us to least the truth that is given to whereby The artist the manner know must of others convince the truthfulness of his lies.” t an abstract he understood. image only • • 9 0 1

John Keats,“OdeJohn Book of Urn,”The Oxford a Grecian on Verse: English 1250–1900. Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. (London: Oxford Ye know on earth, on know Ye know. need to and all ye “Beauty is truth, is all truth beauty,”—that lie that makes us realize truth, us realize lie that makes understand. us to least the truth at that is given The artist Ibid, 264.

University Press,University 1919). 10. 9. Next, read the following excerpt from John Keats’s poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn,”which also Urn,”which a Grecian on “Ode poem Next, Keats’s John from the following excerpt read truth and beauty: to relation art’s considers with up of definitions come to students your Ask beauty. of definitions for ask them Now truth. groups, Alternatively, two form may students your both of just on which should focus ofone the words. their definitions. compare then may The groups art and against that the idea for argue must in which students debate Organize a classroom truth. be represent must beautiful or ACTIVITY about art truth: and statement Art not truth. is that all know Picasso’s to Return “We Art is a of others convince to whereby the manner know must the truthfulness of his lies.”

LESSONS 12