Talk:Minotauromachy

Currently, this page only has one sentence on Minotauromachy, essentially stating that the 1935 etching exists. I plan to add to this page by discussing the historical context of the Minotauromachy, it's visual components, and the commentary that art historians have made concerning both it's symbolic elements and its relation to the more famous 1937 Guernica.

Some of the sources I will use:

Penrose, Roland. Picasso: His Life and Work. [1st U.S. ed.]. New York: Harper & Row. Print.

Damian, Rodica Ioana, and Dean Keith Simonton. "From Past to Future Art: The Creative Impact of Picasso's 1935 Minotauromachy on His 1937 Guernica." Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 5.4 (2011): 360-9. ProQuest. Web. 25 Oct. 2019.

“Minotauromachy, 1935 by Pablo Picasso.” PabloPicasso.org, www.pablopicasso.org/minotauromachy.jsp.

“Pablo Picasso: Minotauromachy (La Minotaurochie) 1935.” Museum of Modern Art, www.moma.org/collection/works/60110. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Horsegirl537 (talk • contribs) 21:25, 25 October 2019 (UTC)

Update As an update to my proposed project, here is a rough outline of the topics I expect to discuss in the final page. I plan to do one more run to the library to find a little more information I can add, but I don't expect this plan to change a ton as a result of that. I am, however, open to any and all feedback. This is just the information I have found thus far.

Basic elements - what the painting is, dimensions, what materials were used (source: MoMA)

·Etching and engraving

·19.5 by 27.4”

Artistic elements - what is depicted

·“Young girl with a candle and a bouquet of flowers” (Picasso.org/MoMA)

·Minotaur

·“wounded female bullfighter is flung across a lacerated horse that snarls with teeth bared” (picasso.org)

·In the window above, two girls holding doves (picasso.org/MoMA)

·Man climbing a ladder (picasso.org/MoMa)

·Small sailboat on the horizon (picasso.org/MoMA)

Symbolism and Interpretations

·From “Power and Tenderness in Men and in Picasso’s Minotauromachy”

→Claims it fits into Aesthetic Realism - the only thing that satisfies man is good will

→The piece represents the blending of power and tenderness, opposites usually present in the human soul

→The minotaur is a form of symbolism often used in Picasso’s work to depict this duality in men

→In the etching: minotaur reaching at the young girl who holds the candle and flowers

→→Girl is the only one whose legs are firmly planted in one direction

→→Author claims it’s her good will that gives her the power to meet him - she wants him to find the light

→In the etching: man climbing ladder

→→Back is turned on the scene yet his head is looking towards it

→→Author claims this represents our conflicting desire to prevail by turning our backs on and dismissing things, but also the way we are drawn towards these kinds of moral dramas

→In the etching: the wounded bull fighter on the back of the horse

→→Author thinks this represents the minotaur’s disatisfaction with the bull part of himself, he has conquered the woman but still wants the tenderness and hope the light and the young girl represent

Historical Context ·time period he painted it during

→→I still have to go back to the library and check this out/read it through more thoroughly but this will be found in Penrose’s “Picasso: His Life and Works”

·it’s relation to the Guernica

→→Has been mentioned as a precursor to the Guernica because it was painted just 2 years after and it and the sketches leading up to it include 4 of the main elements in the Minotauromachy (Damian and Simonton), listed below

·The minotaur head ·The horse ·The girl holding the lamp ·The person climbing the ladder — Preceding unsigned comment added by Horsegirl537 (talk • contribs) 23:02, 29 October 2019 (UTC)