Picasso Poetry

Picasso Posse blogger Jen Anolik is an English major at Dickinson College who put her research skills to work and turned up some beautiful and strange poetry that Picasso wrote in his day. She shares a few stanzas with us.


Picasso’s interest in poetry is not entirely surprising considering that he hung out with poets in Paris, such as Cocteau, Breton, and Apollinaire. Picasso’s prose has often been compared to his artwork- in particular, his collages. The most obvious similarity is that, like his works of art, the meaning of Picasso’s poetry is difficult to interpret at first glance.

How Do You Say Picasso?

Check out the winner of our video contest. We asked Picasso Posse bloggers to film as many people as possible saying the name "Picasso." The winning entry is by Yidi Outhier - it captured our attention, hands down. Take a look!

“Oil on Canvas:” Exploring Picasso With Kids

Say hello to Silvana Pop, a Picasso Posse blogger who's out and about on the art scene, and works in public relations at Please Touch Museum, the Children's Museum of Philadelphia. Here, she writes about visiting the Picasso exhibition with little ones in tow.

When my brother was six years old, he wrote a report about a family trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While I do not remember all the details he shared in his assignment, what has stuck with me through the years is his innocent observation: “All the paintings were called Oil on Canvas,” he wrote.

Of course, he was referring to the media, rather than the artworks’ actual titles because the plaques accompanying the paintings were right at his eye level— they were the most accessible part of the artworks. While I still chuckle thinking back on my brother’s endearing naiveté, this anecdote vividly brings to light the way children and the adults with them can experience an art exhibtion.

Drawing Blindfolded!

Curator Michael Taylor discusses why Picasso created this illustration while blindfolded. It's pretty cool.

Tagging Along With A Picasso Curator

Claire Howard, Curatorial Research Assistant

Picasso blogger Jaime Bramble give us a "day in the life" of one our own curators...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to pull off a major museum exhibition like Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris? Ever thought about what happens beyond the search for objects in far-flung lands, the schmoozing with art dealers, the opening night galas?

My recent chat with Claire Howard (pictured), curatorial research assistant here at the PMA, helped shed a lot of light on it all. Claire has worked under curator Michael Taylor on several exhibitions (Thomas Chimes: Adventures in 'Pataphysics, Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective, and Marcel Duchamp: Étant donnés among them), with Picasso being the latest.

Favorite Picasso Comment of the Day

We recently installed a cool "Discussion" kiosk in the Museum, where you can post comments/ thoughts/ daydreams that occur to you after walking through the Picasso exhibition. It's kinda fascinating to look through the different posts and see what people have to say. Here's a favorite comment we wanted to share...(want more? click here to read the latest posts).

"Early 20th Century was a time of great uncertainty and transition and history is reflected through these paintings and sculptures which are darker and less colorful than traditional perspectives... it gave me an acute sense that this time was a hard time for many...which as history shows, was indeed a world in turmoil."