Audio Photo Essay
Inside Houston's highly-anticipated Picasso show: Expert delves deep to give exclusive insights
Feb 21, 2013 | 1:04 pm
As far as art exhibitions go, the most profound are rooted in a simple idea. Picasso Black and Whiteat the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston fits that bill.
___ There's no mistaking what roused this somewhat comical composition. The subjects of Diego Velázquez's [http: /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas]Las Meninas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas], a painting Picasso knew very well from his visits to El Prado, are obvious, though he wouldn't have been in Spain for at least 20 years when he crafted The Maids of Honor. This was one of 44 variations Picasso painted of Las Meninas. What's humorous is the proportions of the regal characters against the artist, who is towering above them on the right side of the canvas.
Photo courtesy of © 2013 Estate of Pablo Picasso Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
___ There's no mistaking what roused this somewhat comical composition. The subjects of Diego Velázquez's [https: /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas]Las Meninas [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Meninas], a painting Picasso knew very well from his visits to El Prado, are obvious, though he wouldn't have been in Spain for at least 20 years when he crafted The Maids of Honor. This was one of 44 variations Picasso painted of Las Meninas. What's humorous is the proportions of the regal characters against the artist, who is towering above them on the right side of the canvas.
Pablo Picasso, The Maids of Honor (Las Meninas, after Velázquez), La Californie, Aug.17, 1957, oil on canvas, Museu Picasso, Barcelona, gift of the artist, 1968