In order to understand individual variations in taste regarding Picasso and, specifically, Picasso’s prints, the correlations between these preferences and other cultural predispositions in fine art and, for starters, music, and, ultimately, in order to better understand the human mind, I’ve been toying with the idea of compiling a Personal Picasso Print Personality Profile (PPPPP) for each of you readers who have waded this far down into this tripe. It would of course require that you respond to that dreaded document, the questionnaire, but, to make it easy on you, I’d accept answers to any of the questions you chose to answer even if you didn’t complete the entire questionnaire. How’s that? I’m also open to suggestions of other questions. Here’s my opening list (for want of sufficient website expertise, I’d ask you to simply cut and paste the questions and your answers into the email that comes up after clicking on the “Comments” link below):
a. Which are your favorite and least favorite prints on our website, and, for extra credit, why? (Please list the Bloch numbers if you can, since many of the titles of Picasso’s work were endlessly reused, not the least of which reason is the recurrence of certain of his central themes.)
b. Which are some of your favorite and least favorite Picasso prints or works in other media not on our site, and, for extra credit, why?
c. List your favorite artists in order of preference, including Picasso, and your least favorite artists. Specifically, what do you think of Chagall, Matisse, and Miro prints, and why?
d. List your favorite and least favorite musical artists or genres. (I’d especially like to know what you think of the Grateful Dead and Dylan. Sorry, I had to ask….)
e. Has your taste ever changed some time after purchasing an art object? Do you experience buyer’s remorse? What are the conditions which promote permanent satisfaction, and, by contrast, subsequent regret?
Your site is so intriguing that I am taking my time, no doubt providing way too much information, but then you have the ability to ignore it. That’s what you get when you deal with an attorney. We are even wordy when not being paid. But you asked for it.
a. Which are your favorite and least favorite prints on our website, and, for extra credit, why?
Favorites: Tete de Femme [Bloch 384], Femme aux Cheveux Flous [Bloch 1079], Femme au Chapeau [Bloch 1070]. I enjoy many of the earlier Picasso prints (including the cubist prints) and the imagery of many of the linocuts. Of course I do enjoy the color, although I seem to prefer those printed in beiges and browns more than the full color linocuts.
Least favorites: The Volard Suite Prints, The 347 Series. While I appreciate the craft I don’t find the images appealing (i.e., I enjoy them in the museum environment but would not want to live with them).
b. Which are some of your favorite and least favorite Picasso prints or works in other media not on our site, and, for extra credit, why?
I enjoy his cubist work and many of the linocuts, and certain more primitive images.
c. List your favorite artists in order of preference, including Picasso, and your least favorite artists. Specifically, what do you think of Chagall, Matisse, and Miro prints, and why?
It is difficult to list artists in an order of priority; I have so many (and am jealous of your interest in focusing on one artist in such incredible depth). Following are among my favorites:
The Moderns, Braque (Before he fell in love with birds), Gris, Klee, Kandinsky (especially the black and white images), Matisse, Moore, Miro (primarily the pre-1950’s works and selected etchings thereafter), Picasso, Pollock.
With respect to Chagall, I am probably committing a sin being the only Jew who neither owns nor has any desire to acquire any prints. There is a sameness to his work and imagery that is simply not interesting to me. Will I be excommunicated?
With respect to Matisse, I enjoy many of his simple prints and of course the Jazz suite.
As for Miro, I may be turned off by his prolific work, but there are selected pieces that I love.
Contemporary Artists: Diebenkorn, Francis, Frankenthaler, Hockney, Johns, Kelly, Motherwell, Pfaff, Serra, Stella, Steir, Winters
I have a great love of the printmaking process, inspired by my aunt and uncle’s association with the New York Graphic Art Society in the 1950s and 1960s.
d. List your favorite and least favorite musical artists or genres. (Specifically, I’d like to know what you think of the Grateful Dead. Sorry, but I had to ask….)
Again, I am unfortunately unable to focus on one genre or group. I love classical (especially Beethoven and Brahms, with favorite works by Mendelson, Frank, and many others, but generally not Tchaikovsky). I enjoy classic rock, R&B, and especially Jazz, and am also partial to folk music, both classical (Guthrie and Seeger) and contemporary (Springsteen, U2, etc.). I actually find much rap fascinating, but have never been into most heavy metal, punk, grunge, etc.
As for the Dead, they are about far more than music; their shows are spectacles for crowd watching and (although I have never witnessed it in person) an apparent ability to stimulate the sale and consumption of cannabis (or so I have been told). There has never been an act that is as much a lifestyle as a group, although the parrot heads might try to dispute that; I am not impressed.
e. Has your taste ever changed some time after purchasing an art object? Do you experience buyer’s remorse? What are the conditions which promote permanent satisfaction, and, by contrast, subsequent regret?
I take my time prior to acquiring works, so that may help lead to “permanent satisfaction.” On occasion it has cost me an opportunity to acquire a work, but in the long term I believe it has served me well. Accordingly, I research works, try to see them in different books, in museums (when exhibited) and online if images are available, and at least once in person. Generally I find that printed images (or slides and transparencies) simply don’t do the works justice so I insist on viewing the work personally. If it grows on me – if I am virtually haunted by the image, then I decide to acquire the work (given the work is in relative pristine condition and the price reasonable).
I have not yet experienced buyer’s remorse. I believe that those works that I have subsequently decided to turn were less about a change in taste than an opportunity to replace them with something I preferred. What I need is a room-stretcher so that I could simply continue to accumulate works. Do you know of anyone who has one that I could borrow for a while?
If you actually read this far without going to sleep YOU deserve extra credit!
Thanks for the opportunity to say nothing about a lot.
JJG
Thanks for your wonderful response! I found it very interesting, not to mention hilarious, and, yes, I read it to completion. I will also blog it as soon as my computer troubles have been solved.
It seems that we will be seeing more of each other in Hell, since I, too, have never seen a Chagall print that I liked. I do love a very occasional painting of his, but those are rare. And, yes, I too think Braque’s birds are quite ugly.
You have a very thoughtful approach to art appreciation and collecting. I also agree with you about a number of other matters of taste:
1. The Vollard Suite is in general overrated (though a few of the prints there are among his best, and they’re the only ones I buy, though I have brokered the sale of many lesser works and am considering succumbing to market pressures by buying them–if the prices don’t skyrocket further).
2. The 347 Series, and The 156 Series for that matter, are not very accomplished, but there are a few amazing exceptions (of which, in my opinion, I have two, both on our site, another 156 on our site that amuses me, and a third that’s rather uninspiring–I bought it so that Everyman could afford at least one Picasso). A pleasure chatting with you!