Picasso, le Baiser
I have been thinking a lot about how difficult it is to express violence and the inhumanity of Mankind in a painting. It is rare that a painter succeeds as well as the image above by Picasso. This picture pierces the love/hate of a relationship in human terms. It is a war, not one between nations or religions but between the passions and demands of the human heart. How many crimes are committed in the name of love? On the radio, daily, I endure reports of terrible acts of violence perpetrated between individuals. With knives, swords, nail guns, broken bottles and pistols, people go at each other continually, but mostly it is men killing women.
And even in the quiet of their homes do couples destroy one another with silence, mistrust and jealousy.
It's not a happy topic but fortunately Picasso made something extraordinary from it. And although his ex-partners did not have kind things to say about him, as a man, art speaks louder than all of the worst qualities which comprise an artist. In these days of the 'Woke' generation and all that 'political-correctness' de jour, many would find my ideas insensitive. But for me, even art can wear the clothes of a villain, for isn't the point of art to pierce our bias and decapitate our prejudice??
I love this picture for its graphic unity of expression that seems to oscillate within the boundaries of its own four walls. It is a difficult image, and it is a painting which speaks in decibels not in whispers. And I really like it for that.
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