Pablo Picasso Research Paper

In today’s society, it is quite common to hear expressions such as “there is an art to life’s distractions” or “there is an art to flying.” But is there really an “art” to art? When materialism and socialism started gaining popularity, art turned into something different. It was no longer as free as it had once seemed. Despite its restrictions, art remains what it always has been. Art is not something that can be contained or controlled by any amount of studying, reasoning, or spending. Artists such as Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, and Walter Gropius argued that art could not be confined to any one particular area and that any attempt at restriction would only limit the results. Picasso, Chirico, and Gropius believed that was no research,

“Among the several sins that I have been accused of committing, none is more false than the one that I have, as the principal objective in my work, the spirit of research.” Picasso strongly believed art existed in the present and was not about researching previous works of art. To the famous painter, Cubism was not merely a phase in art because “Arts of transition do not exist.” In other words, art is not a process in any way; it is an ongoing, live being. Picasso rejected attempts at finding intellectualism in Cubism, stating that in art, it did not matter what one was looking for; only the result of what was found should be displayed. The famous painter believed art was about finding something, not searching for it. He believed that art could not be researched beforehand or otherwise strongly investigated. “What one does is what counts and not what one had the intention of doing.” Art should have an unrestricted flow and the artist should not be blinded by their search and should instead embrace whatever they have found. Art is not a natural process and therefore there was no such thing as a natural work of art. “Through art we express our conception of what nature is not” (Harrison, 1900-2000 215-217). Pablo Picasso was adamant about art being unconfined by any means of research or original

“Art and state are irreconcilable concepts. They are by their very nature opposed. The creative spirit...refuses to be limited by the laws of the state...or of burgeous values.” Gropius believed that art was not controlled in any matter, that art and state were extreme ends and for them to coexist together would be for them to not exist at all. Gropius’ reply expounded on the limitations set on art due to socialism and materialism. “Thus our age is suffocated by a world of shopkeepers, is trapped in a quagmire of materialism. The real task of socialism is to destroy the evil demon of commercialism in order that the creative spirit...might once more flourish.” Similar to Picasso, Gropius did not want art to be destroyed by those overly obsessed with their original intent, which in this case would be the intent of commerce. Gropius followed Picasso’s train of thought in believing that an artist too set on their original purpose would suffer greatly in their work of art. Gropius believed that art should not be confined to materialistic things, that art could be seen everywhere, from paintings and sculptures to architecture. "Today a work of art no longer occupies a well-defined and hallowed place in the mist of the Volk, it is free as a bird..." Like Chirico, Gropius’ saw the live existence of art in all locations. Because of Gropius’ belief