In our digital age where art is created by using other images, it’s rare to spot originality. This is not to be confused with creativity, where ideas happen by using existing sources. Creativity is alive and well, and most often seen in children—before they are told what things are “supposed” to look like.
Back in 1980, the first retrospective of Pablo Picasso’s work opened at the Museum of Modern Art. Fresh out of college, my girlfriend and I bought tickets well in advance and drove from Philly to New York City to see the show. It was a hot, humid day as we stood in a line that wrapped around a city block, inching our way to the entrance for what seemed like forever. To make matters worse, a big, boisterous man (my guess by his accent was on vacation from Texas), and his family were in front of us the entire wait. It was almost unbearable listening to his constant rantings about Picasso being overrated and how abstract art was not really art.
And it did make you wonder. A novice’s eyes on the exhibition pamphlet would say Picasso’s art was “out there.” He was highly controversial. Picasso created visuals and objects that people were simply not used to seeing as art.
When we finally got into the MET, it was a small, air-locked room maybe ten by ten feet. On three walls were beautiful, large paintings obviously done by a famous painter of an earlier time period. Yet these classic, very realistic masterpieces were all but overlooked by the people packed into this room shoulder to shoulder, excited to get into the main area of the museum.
The loud man continued, “Yeah, my little girls here could paint better’n that Picasso!” It was right about then when I noticed a little brass plaque accompanying the painting I was crammed next to. Reading the plaque, I gestured to my girlfriend to look. Both startled, we looked at each other and said, “PICASSO!” The crowd caught on and it was quickly confirmed that all three of the classic masterpieces were painted by Pablo Picasso! On close examination we noticed that the dates on the paintings were from 1897 and 1898—when Picasso was only 16 and 17 years old! The young Pablo was painting realistic masterpieces when he was just a teenager. What an interesting surprise by the museum.
There was a gleeful chatter that energized everyone in the small room; everyone except the loud Texan, that is.
We walked in, felt the cool air conditioning of the famous gallery, and waltzed around the place soaking in all the incredible, original, modern works of art by an artist who proved himself so early in life. He had certainly earned the right to discover new heights of the human experience. I remember feeling delighted knowing that great art could be done by young kids, but challenged knowing that art history could only be created by an original, like Picasso.
“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.” – Picasso.