A Visit to Picasso

Overview:

In this short 20 minute black and white Belgian documentary, the director, Paul Haesaerts, visualised Pablo Picasso’s flow of imagination when the Spanish painter drew on large glass plates in front of the camera – like a live show of a greatest artist in performing a few masterstrokes that outlines a dove, bull, flower, man or woman and whatnot. (This technique of filming his painting from the other side of the glass plates precedes The Mystery of Picasso (1956), another famous documentary film on Picasso). (via http://www.kubrickians.com/2012/07/08/visite-picasso-1949-paul-haesaert/)

Director:

Paul Haesaerts

Status:

Released

Language:

Dutch

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$0.00

Key words:

Cast

Pablo Picasso

~ as ~

Himself

Gérard Philipe

~ as ~

Récitant / Narrator

Frank Silvera

~ as ~

Commentator

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 11 month(s) ago
7
For the first half of this documentary, we are guided through a rather fleeting chronology of the development of Picasso's styles of artists through this "Rose" period, his "Negro" works and then "Cubism" and that's all pretty routine stuff. Then, though, we visit his seaside French home in a picturesque village where he proceeds to paint, as if directly onto the screen, and it's astonishing to watch. Random shapes, lines, squiggles and dots become plants, animals and people by the time he has finished what looks like the most rudimentary of styles of brushwork. There's a basic narration, but it isn't really necessary as we see this man at work in his shed crafting the likes of an owl or seeing his man and a sheep in effective situ amidst a run down chapel. For such a prolific artist, you could have a dozen such programmes and still but scratch the surface of his range and skills, but this is an useful and interesting start.