Pablo Picasso was a bad, perhaps even an evil man. He delighted in pittinng his several wives against mistresses and one actually took her own life in despair. He was a self-absorbed philanderer.
Picasso was also a brilliant man, arguably a genius. It's hard to dispute that he is one of the great figures in the history of art. How can both observations be true? How can a a terrible man be a great man?
I attended the Picasso exhibit currently at the Art Gallery of Ontario even though I was somewhat reluctant to do so because he was an abusive man. And I was deeply impressed by the scope of his creativity as a painter and sculptor. II can say that pondering some of them was a spiritual experience. Even more remarkable is that his work spanned seven decades.
What came to mind was the movie Amadeus in which the mediocre Salieri rails against God for allowing the immature, scatological Mozart to possess such prodigious talent. It is sobering that character and creativity are just not tied together. Lots of morally impressive people aren't much good at anything else, although morality isn't something to sneeze at.
4 comments:
Our grade eights went to the exhibit as part of their grad trip and they were simply enthralled. There's really no question that the man was a genius, but you're right: any assessment of him routinely shows him falling short in the character department.
The show is amazing, have been a couple times.
You have peaked my interest...an afternoon of art in the city might be a worthwhile adventure for my girls and I.
Maybe a little off-topic but was thinking during the recent year end school talent shows, when kids are desperate to find and then praised for stage worthy talent....which very often isn't really talent at all....but somehow seems more exciting than the " talents" that make up good character...and what those of average talent do to create a "great" life themselves?.....yes, I realize I was far over thinking an amateur talent show but they can seem endless and uncomfortable sometimes.....so my mind wandered...
Why do the Evil prosper?
I've worked with some not evil, but, self-absorbed people. They seem to be able to justify their actions, focus on a goal, and not care about how their actions affect other people.
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