#Tobacco & Art
Peter Zabolotsky,
Girl with a Cigarette,
1830-1860
Pablo Picasso,
Boy with a Pipe (Garçon à la Pipe), 1905
"HE OFTEN WATCHED ME WORK.
SOMETIMES HE STAYED FOR DAYS.
HE ENJOYED IT" – PICASSO
Pablo Picasso is considered to be the founder of Cubism. Connoisseur
of art joke that if there is a picture showing people with some missing
body parts or a few extra ones, then most likely you are looking at one of
Picasso's works. Even though Pablo was part of the Parisian bohemia, he
lived in a poor neighborhood and preferred to communicate with ordinary
locals, wandering artists and street vendors. One of the most expensive
paintings in the world depicts a representative of these social strata, a
forlorn street urchin named Little Louis.
The painting Boy with a Pipe dates to the early "pink period" of the
artist's creative work when his recognizable style was just in its formative
stages, and that is what sets it apart from the other works by Picasso.
Many of Picasso's paintings feature smoking. It is probably some kind
of a tribute, as cigarettes saved the artist's life.
At his birth, Pablo was pronounced dead: the labor was difficult and
painful, and the baby was born so weak that the midwife thought that he
was stillborn. She left him lying on the table and went to tell his mother
the bad news. The child was saved by a stroke of good fortune – his uncle
smoked cigars and, on seeing the baby lying on the table, he blew smoke
in his face. The newborn made a grimace and began to cry.
Peter Zabolotsky was a Russian portrait
painter who mostly painted pictures for
customers. At that time, customers had
a peculiar taste – images of pretty girls
holding a lit candle or "rushlight". Many
artists, such as Caravaggio, made use
of this in their art producing a whimsical
play of light and shade in a picture.
The mysteriously flickering light of
a burning match covered by the palm of
the main character in the picture Girl with a
Cigarette gives the intimate, "homemade"
portrait a very peculiar charm and a hint
of intrigue. The girl glows with a naive
charm of youth, and a cigarette in her
hand is an exciting addition to the image.
MOST FAMOUS WORKS
3. Weeping Woman
4. Guernica
5. Dream
1
MOST FAMOUS WORKS
1. Portrait of Lermontov
2. Boy with a Bird
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5
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3
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