Over the course of his ninety-two years of life, Pablo Picasso explored a wide variety of artistic styles and techniques. The Spanish artist is one of the most famous, as well as influential, artists of all time. His legacy lives on in the art of many modern American artists. Art Revived has assembled a list of some of the most well-known American painters who have found inspiration in Picasso’s work.
Roy Lichtenstein
Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein often spoke of his marked interest in the art of Pablo Picasso. He acknowledged the “huge influence” that Picasso had upon his artwork, even going so far as to paint cartoons of Picasso. Lichtenstein viewed his cartoon paintings as an attempt to liberate himself from Picasso’s strong influence.
Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. 1907.
Willem de Kooning
When Willem de Kooning paints his portraits of monstrous women, he returns to the Cubist women typical of Picasso’s artwork. Placing Picasso’s famous “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (1907) alongside any of de Kooning’s woman paintings reveals many similarities. Both artists use bold, black lines to outline their figures, and both grant their women an overwhelming sense of power and overt sexuality.
Willem de Kooning. Woman I. 1950-52.
Jackson Pollock
Artist Jackson Pollock – best known for his monumental “drip” paintings – directly references the work of Picasso in his many of his paintings. Some of Pollock’s works from the 1950’s in particular include figures drawn in bold, black lines descended from the art of Picasso. Both Picasso and Pollock abandon traditional realist painting in favor of more childish, liberated techniques. Pollock turns Picasso’s cubist figures into wild splatters of paint.
Jasper Johns
Painter and sculptor Jasper Johns is best known for his encaustic, or hot wax, paintings of flags and targets. In creating these works, Johns adds colored pigments to heated beeswax, and then applies the mixture to a canvas. Apart from these targets and flags, Johns has also created dozens of works that incorporate elements directly from Picasso paintings – including nudes, mythical creatures, and portraits of women.
Arshile Gorky
In his early works, abstract expressionist painter Arshile Gorky imitated the artwork of Picasso. He explored Picasso’s different styles in a more dedicated and thorough manner than perhaps any other artist. Gorky’s mature works, such as his famous “The Liver is the Cock’s Comb” (1944), show him building off of these influences to create his own style.
Arshile Gorky. Blue Figure in Chair. ca. 1934-35.
