Picasso’s Claude Writing (1951)

Nothing in Picasso, or poetic art for that matter, is straightforward. Though this appears to be a portrait of Picasso’s son, Claude, writing, it is obviously an alter ego of Picasso himself not writing but drawing

Picasso, Claude Writing (1951)

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Adult artists often imagine themselves as their own children because, having struggled to become great masters, they symbolize themselves re-born like Christ, as an infant…even if they are not religious. And their own children, naturally, maintain a resemblance. Picasso frequently used the idea, with or without religious reference.

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Detail and Diagram of Claude Writing

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Look carefully at the eye on the right and you will see the profile of a little chick, facing to the left. The visual illusion is typical of Picasso though its meaning is, at least to me, not entirely clear. It is surely intentional.

Notes:

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