136 CHAP VII

CHAPTER VII

Post War Parodies - 1946-1972

After the end of World War II, Picasso enjoyed an open relationship with the masters of art. His many obvious variations after Velazquez's "The Maids of Honor" have been the subject of much discourse.

EXAMPLE FROM 1949

"David and Bathsheba," a lithograph from 1949 (127)

An example of a variation after Lucas Cranach is "David and Bathsheba," a lithograph (127) in which Picasso naturally reversed Cranach's images in (127A).

EXAMPLES FROM 1950

“Demoiselles des bords de la Seine" 1950 (128)

Courbet, who for a long time had been one of Picasso's favorite resources, came out in the open in Picasso's composition based on Courbet's "Girls on the Banks of the Seine" (128A) from which Picasso freely manipulated shapes to make his "Demoiselles des bords de la Seine" (128). Penrose related in his biography of Picasso the following “His continual interest in the work of others had tempted him on several occasions in the past to take as his theme a painting that he admired, such as Poussin's "Bacchanale," and reinterpret it according to the feelings it provoked in him. At this time two great paintings, the "Demoiselles de la Seine" by Courbet and El Greco's "Self-Portrait," had attracted his attention, and he painted two large canvases, rearranging them in his own manner. In both cases it is possible to trace in detail the original work, n. A careful comparison between Picasso's versions and the works of his predecessors is the best possible guide to the revolution he has brought about in painting and to its significance” (Penrose 343).

"Self-Portrait of El Greco" copy 1950 (129)

In describing Picasso's copy of the "Self-Portrait of El Greco" 1950, (129)


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