Curriculum Links
Ideas for Further Discussion and Research

Art

1. What drove Picasso to paint everyday?
2. Why was he always changing styles within a period rather than staying with one?
3. Picasso meticulously dated his work which he treated like a diary. Select a work from the war years and one from a happier period in Picasso's life. How do the subject matter, technique, medium and style reflect those periods?
4. Discuss other artists whose work could be seen as an autobiography.
5. Picasso's work forced people to look at the world from a totally new perspective. Are there any artists in the world today achieving this? Discuss.
6. The Nazis also declared Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist, a degenerate artist. Compare Picasso’s portrayals of love and death with the work of Edvard Munch, who also passionately dealt with these themes.
7. Compare the themes examined in Picasso's work from 1935 - 1945 with those explored by contemporary artists. How are they similar and different?
8. Do you think the visual arts are an effective and appropriate medium for political expression? Discuss with reference to a diversity of artists and art forms.
9. Tate Modern, London owns a painting in the Weeping Woman series (26 October 1937) Locate the painting on the internet: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=11871 and discuss in what ways Picasso has used colour differently and why.
10. Research the theft of the Weeping Woman, 1937 from the NGV in 1986.

 

History

1. Many consider Picasso to have been a genius. What constitutes genius? Research the life of a genius from the past or present.
2. The Spanish Civil War had a profound affect on Picasso’s work. Find out about the events that led to the war and the role of General Franco in Spain. Are there political struggles, like the Spanish Civil War, happening in today’s world? Discuss.
3. Identify three of the artworks in which Picasso has responded to the Spanish Civil War. In what ways does Picasso refer to Spain? How do these works reveal his feelings and thoughts about the horror of this event?
4. Research and discuss the effects of the German Occupation of France. Write a diary entry as if you were Picasso or Dora Maar living in Occupied Paris during the War.
5. The Second World War and the Spanish Civil War were profound historical events that led to powerful artistic responses from Picasso. Look at 20th and 21st century art that has been inspired by other intense events or injustices to the human race. Examine the artistic methods used to convey these subjects.
6. In what ways does Picasso's art denounce Nazi theory?

Research the Spanish Civil War on the internet:
Spartacus online
Wikipedia Article

Find out about the impact of the Second World War on the internet:
World War II Multimedia Database
Museum of Tolerance

 

English

1. Picasso was fascinated by mythology which appears in many of his art works. Write a myth or legend based on one of Picasso's works.
2. Picasso was also a poet and compared poetry to painting. Discuss in what ways they are similar.
3. The following English translation of the poem, Grand Air, written by Picasso’s friend Paul Eluard in 1936 is featured in the article Portraits and Mythologies 1936 – 1938.

   The shore hands trembling
   Descended under the rain
   A stairway of mists
   You were leaving all naked
   Quivering Faux marble
   Early morning complexion
   Treasure guarded by huge beasts
   Who themselves were keeping some sun under their wing
   For you
   Beasts that we knew without seeing
   Over the walls of our nights
   Over the horizon of our kisses
   The contagious laughter of the hyenas
   Could well gnaw the old bones
   Of the beings who live one by one
   We were playing in the sun in the rain by the sea
   At having only one stare one sky and one sea
   Ours
   3 June, 1936

   Discuss the imagery in this poem. How might you interpret it in the context of Picasso, Dora Maar and their friends holidaying by the sea in the South of France?

4. Study one of the paintings from Picasso’s Weeping Women series. Write down all the words that initially come to mind. Imagine you are describing the colours and shapes he has used, the emotions he expressed and the messages he conveyed to someone who has never seen the image before. Use these descriptions to write a poem.
5. Choose one of Picasso's works and write about it from an art critic's perspective and from a child's point of view.
6. Discuss the imagery in Picasso’s Guernica and Weeping Women series. Write or role-play an imagined interview with one of the Weeping Women who experienced the bombing of Guernica.
7. Write a response to the impact of war on mankind based on your reaction to the exhibition.
   

 

Philosophy

1. Discuss the meanings of art, war and love?
2. Is war an inevitable part of human existence? Discuss.
3. What is history? How do the visual arts influence our perception of history?
4. Use examples of Picasso's works to discuss the nature of beauty and ugliness and whether they can be the same thing?
5. Find out about Picasso's personal life. To what extent does knowledge of an artist's life influence our reaction to their work?
6. Study a work by Picasso that portrays happiness. How do we define happiness?
7. What is genius? Why was Picasso considered a genius?
8. Discuss the meaning of one of Picasso's works. Does it matter if your interpretation of a work is different from the artist's intention?
9. How can art make positive or negative changes to the society in which we live?
10. Picasso's paintings have risen in value from hundreds to millions of dollars in the space of seventy years. Is this justified? What other values can be applied to a precious work of art?

 

French Language and Culture

1. Use the Exquisite Corpse format (See The Surrealist Movement in Preparing for Your Visit) to write a poem in French.
2. Picasso and Dora first entered into conversation at the café Les Deux Magots, which played an important role in the cultural life of Paris. Famous people in the Arts, such as Surrealist André Breton, the artist Fernand Leger and writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, were regular visitors. Research the life of one of these famous people.
   

3. Locate the internet site for the café: http://www.lesdeuxmagots.com
   • Translate the history of the café from French into English.
   • Design a French menu with dishes that people in love would like to choose from.

4. Research the hardships experienced by the French during the German Occupation of France which began in 1940. How might the Occupation have had long term effects on the morale of the French people?
5. Picasso and Dora Maar were both members of the Communist Party. What was the Popular Front and why were they so delighted when it swept to power in 1936?

 

Spanish Language and Culture

1. In what areas of Spain do the people speak the Catalan and Basque languages?
2. Research Catalan and Basque culture.
3. Picasso was born in Malaga. Research the town and write a short description of it in Spanish.
4. Picasso spent his formative years in Barcelona (1901–1906), known for its vibrant cultural life and architecture by Antonio Gaudi. Choose one aspect of Barcelona and describe it as if you were on holiday writing an email or postcard to a friend.

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