Sylvette
Sylvette | |
---|---|
Artist | Pablo Picasso, Carl Nesjar |
Year | 1970 |
Medium | Concrete |
Location | Westersingel, Rotterdam |
Sylvette is a large concrete sculpture created by Pablo Picasso and the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar, which was erected in the city of Rotterdam in 1970. It is located on the corner of Westersingel next to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. The sculpture portrays a young woman with a ponytail. The model for the sculpture was Sylvette David, whom Picasso met in 1953 when she was 19. The sculpture was produced following the creation of a series of artworks, known as the Sylvette series, that Picasso made of his muse in a variety of artistic styles.
Background
Sylvette David was the daughter of a Parisian art dealer who, during the summer of 1953, met 73-year-old Picasso at his pottery studio located on Rue du Fournas in Vallauris.[1] Finding her appearance appealing, Picasso asked her to be his model and subsequently created 60 works inspired by her over the course of two months (between April and June), including drawings, paintings and small metal sculptures.[2] This was the most concentrated series of works that Picasso produced of a model in his lifetime. Life magazine described this era as Picasso's "Ponytail Period".[1] Sylvette possessed the classic features that Picasso admired with blonde hair tied in a high ponytail. Within this series of artworks, Picasso depicted his model in numerous styles, including both naturalistic and cubist images.[3]
In 1957, Picasso met Carl Nesjar and was impressed with a process that he had invented for producing large concrete sculptures. They began to collaborate on producing a series of artworks, which began with Nesjar transferring Picasso's designs onto three murals on a government building in Oslo. The managing director of the Bijenkorf department store, Van der Wal, who was a member of the Urban Embellishment Committee, was impressed and wanted to install a similar artwork in Rotterdam. Initially, the committee proposed the installation of a 12 metre high sculpture by Picasso in Kralingse Hout, a greenbelt area northeast of Rotterdam, but it was withdrawn due to negative public opinion. Another artwork proposed by Picasso was again rejected in 1967, three years before the current sculpture was erected in 1970.[3]
Description
The Sylvette sculpture in Rotterdam is a larger version of several small sculptures that Picasso created using painted sheet metal. It measures 7.5 m (nearly 25 ft) in height and was erected in May 1970. The sculpture was originally located in front of the Building Centre in Rotterdam, but following renovations in the area, it was moved to its current location on the corner of Westersingel next to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen on 24-25 March 2003.[4][5][6][7] It was cast in concrete with black pebbles, using a technique called "concrete sgraffito", which was developed by Picasso's friend, Carl Nesjar. The process involved Picasso painting the original sculpture with lines, which were then copied onto the concrete by Nesjar by sandblasting the surface to reveal the black pebbles. The resulting effect mimicked the hand painted lines on the original sculpture.[8]
Reception
The sculpture was bought by the city of Rotterdam in 1963, however, its installation proved to be unpopular with local residents and artists, who protested for eight years, until it was finally erected in 1970. The Rotterdam artist community was of the opinion that the value of the artwork should have been spent on locally produced art, which further tarnished the reputation of the sculpture.[6] The popularity of the sculpture has since improved with locals and tourists alike.[4]
Significance and legacy
Christoph Grunenberg, director of the Kunsthalle Bremen in Germany, remarked on the ground-breaking nature of Picasso's portraits of Sylvette. "Suddenly, Picasso goes back to sheet metal, which he had used in his Cubist assemblage Guitar [1914], but now he uses it in a very innovative way. You get this interesting dialogue between painting and sculpture: they [the folded-metal sculptures] are almost cut out of the canvas, which then becomes three dimensional."[1]
Sculpture International Rotterdam opines that the Sylvette series, "reveal his mastery as a painter and are evidence that even at an advanced age he was still capable of reinventing himself. Moreover, the series illustrate how Picasso was able to approach one motif in various naturalistic and Cubist styles." The works had widespread impact on a younger generation in the 1950s, with high ponytails becoming particularly popular in Paris during this time. In summary, the Sylvette series, "made modern art more accessible and Picasso’s work more understandable".[3]
See also
- Chicago Picasso
- Picasso's Regjeringskvartalet murals
References
- ^ a b c Sooke, Alastair. "Sylvette David: The woman who inspired Picasso". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
- ^ "Sylvette - Artist". Sculpture International Rotterdam. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- ^ a b c "Sylvette - Essay". Sculpture International Rotterdam. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- ^ a b "Sylvette". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
- ^ "Artwork Sylvette on the Westersingel made by Carl Nesjar • Rotterdam. Make it Happen". Rotterdam. Make it Happen. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
- ^ a b "Sylvette – Bouwcentrum Rotterdam" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-01-22.
- ^ "Sylvette – Bouwcentrum Rotterdam" (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-01-22.
- ^ "Sylvette - Artwork". Sculpture International Rotterdam. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
External links
- Sylvette sculpture in Rotterdam
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- Le petit picador jaune (1889)
- Science and Charity (1897)
- Le Moulin de la Galette (1900)
- The Appointment (1901)
- Child with a Dove (1901)
- La Gommeuse (1901)
- Yo, Picasso (1901)
- Portrait of Jaime Sabartés (1901)
- The Blue Room (1901)
- Femme aux Bras Croisés (1901-02)
- Old Jewish Man with a Boy (1903)
- The Old Guitarist (1903)
- La Vie (1903)
- Portrait of Angel Fernández de Soto (1903)
- Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904)
- The Actor (1904-1905)
- Woman Ironing (1904)
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- Head of a Young Woman (1906)
- Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907)
- Woman with a Fan (1908)
- Brick Factory at Tortosa (1909)
- Woman with a Fan (1909)
- Femme et pot de moutarde (1910)
- Girl with a Mandolin (1910)
- Portrait of Ambroise Vollard (1910)
- Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1910)
- The Accordionist (1911)
- Le pigeon aux petits pois (1911)
- La Coiffeuse (1911)
- Violon et Raisins (1912)
- Bottle, Glass, Fork (1912)
- Ma Jolie (1912)
- Arlequin (1913)
- Ma Jolie (1914)
- Three Musicians (1921)
- Reading the Letter (c. 1921)
- The Pipes of Pan (1923)
- The Three Dancers (1925)
- Woman in a Red Armchair (1929)
- Le Repos (1932)
- Girl before a Mirror (1932)
- La Lecture (1932)
- Le Rêve (1932)
- Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (1932)
- Nude in a Black Armchair (1932)
- Femme à la montre (1932)
- Two Girls Reading (1934)
- Jeune Fille Endormie (1935)
- Guernica (1937)
- Portrait of Dora Maar (1937)
- Woman in Hat and Fur Collar (1937)
- The Weeping Woman (1937)
- Girl with a Red Beret and Pompom (1937)
- Femme au béret et à la robe quadrillée (Marie-Thérèse Walter) (1937)
- Maya with Doll (1938)
- Woman's Head (1939)
- Dora Maar au Chat (1941)
- The Charnel House (1944–1945)
- Nature morte au poron (1948)
- Massacre in Korea (1951)
- Les Femmes d'Alger series (1955)
- Las Meninas (1957)
- The Fall of Icarus (1958)
- Bust of a Seated Woman (Jacqueline Roque) (1960)
- Jacqueline (1961)
- Femme au Chien (1962)
- Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) (1931)
- Tête de femme (Dora Maar) (1941)
- Bull's Head (1942)
- Baboon and Young (1951)
- Figure découpée (1963, 1964, 1965)
- Chicago Picasso (1967)
- Sylvette (1970)
- Vollard Suite (1930–1937)
- Minotaur Kneeling over Sleeping Girl (1933)
- Minotauromachy (1935)
- The Dream and Lie of Franco (1937)
- 347 Series (1968)
- Girl from Majorca (1905)
- Don Quixote (1955)
- Toros y toreros (1961)
- Le Taureau (1945-1946)
- Dove (1949)
- Desire Caught by the Tail (c. 1941)
- The Four Little Girls (c. 1947–48)
- Picasso and the Ballets Russes
- Parade
- The Three-Cornered Hat
- Pulcinella
- Le Train Bleu
- Mercure
- Musée Picasso (Paris)
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- Museu Picasso (Barcelona)
- Museo Picasso Málaga (Malaga)
- Museo Casa Natal (Malaga)
- Château de Boisgeloup (Normandy)
- Olga Khokhlova (first wife)
- Jacqueline Roque (second wife)
- Maya Widmaier-Picasso (daughter)
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(France)
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- Villa La Californie (Cannes, 1955-1961)
- Château de Vie (Mougins, 1961-1973)
television about
- Visit to Picasso (1949)
- Guernica (1950)
- The Mystery of Picasso (1956)
- The Adventures of Picasso (1978)
- Surviving Picasso (1996)
- Picasso: Magic, Sex & Death (2001)
- Modigliani (2004)
- Genius (2018 TV series)
- Carles Casagemas
- Carl Nesjar
- Lydia Corbett
- Lump (dog)
- Fundación Picasso
- Picasso. In the heart of darkness (1939-1945) (2019-2020 exhibition)
- Picasso & Lump (2006 book)
- Picasso referendum of Basel
- Theft of The Weeping Woman from the National Gallery of Victoria
- Portrait of Pablo Picasso (1915 painting)
- "If I Told Him: A Completed Portrait of Picasso" (1924 poem)
- Woman, Bird, Star (Homage to Pablo Picasso) (1973 painting)
- "Pablo Picasso" (1976 song)
- The Blue Guitar (1977 etchings)
- Picasso at the Lapin Agile (1993 play)
- Picasso (crater)