Mother Music - Child Cubism
The Influence of Catalonia’s Musical Innovativeness on the Style of Picasso’s of CubismJames An - Princeton University Class of 2008
“Mathematics, trigonometry, chemistry, psychoanalysis, music and whatnot, have been related to Cubism to give it an easier interpretation. All this has been pure literature, not to say nonsense, which has only succeeded in blinding people with theories” (Qtd. Buettner 103). With these words, Picasso severed the connection between Cubism and music. He asserted that music shouldn’t be used to give meaning to his Cubist works. But was this Picasso’s ploy to add further intrigue to his art and hide the real influences of Cubism? As evidenced by his devotion to musical subjects in more than half of his art before 1913, music clearly played a significant role in the subjects of Picasso’s Cubist works (Buettner 102). However, did music influence Picasso beyond his choice of subject matter?
It is worthwhile to explore this question — evaluating the validity of Picasso’s claim and examining whether music influenced the Cubist style in a greater way than Picasso publicly admitted. For instance, Stewart Buettner and Lewis Kachur in their essays on Picasso and his musical subjects outlined the music, musicians, and musical instruments that Picasso was exposed to through his several lengthy stays in Cret, a French village with heavy Spanish cultural influences. As evidenced through the quote above, however, Picasso denied that the Catalan music he had heard in Cret served as such inspiration for his art. Yet by examining Picasso’s Cubist paintings of musical subjects from this period — 1910-1913 — in comparison to his previous works, it appears that music did influence Picasso, showing how Picasso’s Cubist style developed as a result of the Catalan genre of music that he was surrounded by. With the innovative Catalan musical culture in mind, especially with regards to Picasso’s depictions of the guitar, we see that music indeed was not only related to Cubism but had a major role in Picasso’s creation and continual refining of that style. Specifically, Picasso’s incorporation of a combination of structured mathematical elements with a level of spontaneity and free energy can be traced to the rhythmical technicalities and style of Catalan music. Picasso attempted to capture the essence exuded by this particular music — an important revelation as it not only illuminates the historical context of Picasso’s invention and provides explanation for the Cubist style but also challenges Picasso’s own claim that music did not influence Cubism art.
Main Pages
An Introduction to Catalan Music and DanceBlue Period Music: The Old Guitarist
Picasso's First Cret Summer Guitar Paintings
Man with Guitar Revisited
Conclusion
Works Cited
About the Author
Additional
Picasso's Musical BackgroundDe Sverac's Influence
Musical Collages
The Tenora
