Stein+Picasso= <3

Picasso was one of the leading patrons of the modern art movement now known as Cubism. When Gertrude Stein moved to Paris she took an extreme liking to Picasso and the Cubism movement. This interest is reflected very obviously in her work, Tender Buttons. Stein used similar techniques as those used in Cubism to create a literary work of equal caliber in both skill and uniqueness.

To understand this relation one must first understand the cubism movement. Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque created the Cubism movement(Stokstad 1078). These artists used fragmented and broken views and distorted them to convey images seen in every day life (Stokstad 1079).  The idea was to shift perspective into something unexplored. One way artists accomplished this was by breaking up an object into parts, analyzing those parts, and pasting them back together to create an image resembling the original image (Stokstad 1080).

Gertrude Stein took these basic ideas and attempted, successfully, to transform this visual system of creation into a literary one. The titles of the poems resemble the titles of Cubists pieces. They are simple and not very descriptive such as “A Box” or “A Piece of Coffee.” The subject examined in Tender Buttons and those of Cubists artists are also similar. An example is Stein’s “ A Carafe, That is a Blind Glass” next to Picasso’s “Glass and Bottle of Suze.”

Aside from these superficial similarities, the composition of the poems as well as the art work is are comparable. For instance, in Picasso’s “Violin and Palette” the viewer is confronted with a distorted view of the objects in the title. The viewer is forced to search and work to put the objects in familiar terms. Although all of the elements are present; strings, handle, music sheets, color of the wood, the object is presented differently.

Similarly, in Stein’s poem “A Petticoat.” She describes the title writing, “A light white, a disgrace, an ink spot, a rosy charm (1).” All of the elements are within that one line, yet the organization of the elements leaves the reader feeling uncomfortable. This is not how the majority of the population would describe a petticoat. Stein takes prominent parts of this object and brings them to the surface. Just as the violin’s strings were obvious in Picasso’s piece, the color, stain, and broach on the coat are visible. The coat as a whole, in the way a reader understands it, must be reconstructed in one’s mind.

In conclusion, the most prominent similarity between the writings and the paintings is the emotions many felt after reviewing them. The techniques these artists use cause certain emotions. The artists’ interpretation and representation of reality is so unusual they tend to leave the viewer or reader feeling uncomfortable. The artists tear down any sense of reality and completely reshape the common things in life. While many artists and writers attempt to simply further explore what is already complex, Stein and Picasso choose to find the complexity in everyday life. Seemingly simple and explored items are put in a new life and re-explored to their fullest extent. The goal of any artists, writer or painter, is to evoke some sort of emotion. In this respect, both Stein and Picasso were incredibly successful and thus memorable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Stein, Gertrude. “Tender Buttons Objects—Food—Rooms” Project Gutenburg.  7 March 2005. Web. 2 October 2009 https://campus.fsu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fwebapps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_6296890_1%26url%3d

 

 

Stokstad, Marilyn. “Art History 3^rd Edition.” New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.