What Inspires Me: Paper Collage

Picasso Posse blogger Erin Cameron teaches art history and writes the clever blog Art Without Pretense (tagline: the trials of a starving art historian). We asked her to share her thoughts on what inspires her about the Picasso exhibition.

Papier collé, literally glued paper, is a subject which has preoccupied me for the last few years. Following a grad course which traced the history of collage from the Cubists into the modern world, I have continued to think about how Picasso’s and Bracque’s experiments have remained relevant.

 In my Intro to Art History classes, the question of collage is something I repeatedly pose to my students. What do they know about it? Have they used collage? Is it outdated? Far from passé, we use collage in many forms today. My students, not at first familiar with Picasso’s Sheet Music and Glass, have all cut and pasted images from magazines and newspapers. Without knowing the terms used by Picasso or Braque, nearly everyone understands the concept of collage. It is one of the most enduring legacies left by Picasso—that any number of separate elements can come together and form a new image with an altered meaning.

Photo top: Courtesy of Erin Cameron; Photo right: Bowl with Fruit, Violin, and Wineglass; Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, 1913. Courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Behind the Scenes: Picasso's Self-Portrait with Palette

Curator Michael Taylor discusses Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris - now on view through April 25, 2010. 

Film Inspiration: The Moderns

The Americans in Paris gallery in the Picasso exhibition spotlights the "Lost Generation," aka the group of expatriate artists and writers who moved to Paris in the 1920s, hung out in cafes with the likes of Picasso, and caused a stir (see curator Michael Taylor's clip and the photograph of Ada Smith, a jazz singer and dancer known as "Bricktop," for more on that).

The personalities and particularities of cafe society inspired Alan Rudolph's 1988 film, The Moderns. The film portrays Nick Hart, a struggling American artist who falls into the expat community in Paris in 1926. After a few twists and turns, he eventually becomes wrapped up in a plot to forge three paintings...which lands him in all sorts of trouble.

Want to see it on the big screen? It's being shown at the Museum on Sunday, March 28th, at 2pm. Click here for details. Want to know what others thought of it? 73% of Rotten Tomatoes viewers liked it. What about you? If you've seen it, tell us about it.

Americans in Paris

Check out Curator Michael Taylor discussing the Americans in Paris gallery - focusing on Gertrude Stein, Bricktop, and Aaron Douglas.

Art Blogger Opportunity

Do you love Picasso? Do you love to blog? The Philadelphia Museum of Art just launched the blog you're reading now to celebrate the opening of the special exhibition, Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris, and we want you to be a part of it.

The Museum is looking for a select group of art-loving, socially-wired individuals to become part of our Picasso Posse blogger community. Bloggers will be involved in all aspects of the site, from writing posts on topics of their choosing, to helping film behind-the-scenes videos, to uploading photos and content that provokes buzz and commentary. Bloggers will also be encouraged to spread their knowledge and first-hand experiences at the Museum through Facebook, Twitter, and other content-sharing applications. The Museum’s blog is a new experiment in social media and bloggers will have a unique and exciting opportunity to shape its content from the ground up.

The blogger position is unpaid, yet those accepted into the Picasso Posse will have unlimited access to the Museum and its collection for the duration of the Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris exhibition.

To Apply:
*Submit a sample 250-word post on any topic related to Picasso
*Suggest 5 ideas for content you would create for the Museum’s blog
*List any relevant experience you have with blogging, including any blogs or sites that you currently host or write for.

Please submit materials as soon as possible to: kari.molvar@philamuseum.org

Photo by M. McClellan for GPTMC