Picasso's Bullfighting Aquatints

A snapshot in time.


Most people don't realize that Pablo Picasso had a whole lifetime of art apart from the cubism movement that he pioneered.


He did tons of other works.

When I visited the Museo Picasso in Malaga (the birth place of our beloved cubist), I was SHOCKED at the breadth and depth of his early works. There was one (quite good) realist painting of a girl sitting in a chair that was not abstract in the least which he painted when he was only 15. There was pottery and my favorite, his aquatints. Entitled, La Tauromaquia ("The Bullfight" translated from Spanish to English), this series of 26 panels includes some of my favorite images of all time.


Aquatint is an intaglio printmaking technique which is a variant of etching. Created in 1957, Picasso's aquatints are exquisite in line and form. I love the black and white contrast. The movement of the drawings. The character of the images. The hurried expressiveness of the bullfighting scene.

This lesser known side of Picasso is powerful, exquisite, and by far, my favorite.

Semana Santa

At first we were scared when all the klu-klux-klan like costumes appeared in store shop windows in the form of lollipops and figurines. We asked our director and she said that is just what they wear for semana santa, or holy week, or as we call it Easter. Whew.

All week long in Malaga, they have processions that go through the street. Catholics wear long robes and capiotes, that point to the heaven. The men carry these huge elaborate thrones. They sway and sometimes chant. A few blindfold themselves in penintence for their sins. The more they suffer, the more their rewards. It was an amazing experience to see.

Malaga

Ok, finally to malaga. I love it. I still can´t believe that I really live here. My apartment is (in walking distances) 45 minutes from the beach, 5 minutes from the university, and 25 from the center of city.

My host family are the sweetest people in the world. They make me feel so at home.

The beach here is great and the temperature is very comfortable.


The spanish schedule was built with me in mind. Lunch at 2 and supper at 9, and the best part? the siesta in the middle of the day! I love it, it is just unreal.

My spanish is coming along. I´m not fluent yet by any means but at least I can understand general concepts that people are talking about.