Painted bronze
Goat Skull and Bottle is painted in shades of gray that match the somber palette of some of Picasso's paintings in the years during and just after World War II and perhaps allude to the black-and-white photography that brought images of the war home. The candle depicted here serves as a memento mori, a reminder of mortality. The sculpture was created from a host of found materials unified by their castingin bronze. Picasso used the handlebars of a bicycle to represent the goat's horns, and the heads of large bolts form its eyes. The goat's head is covered in a layer of corrugated cardboard that implies the directionof its hair. Nails are used for the tufts between itsears and for the rays of light emanating from the candle nestled in the bottle. In this and other of Picasso's sculptures, found elements never fully give up their original identities even as they serve as parts of a sculptural whole.
2015.
Gallery label from Focus: Picasso Sculpture , July 3–November 3, 2008.
Goat Skull and Bottle is painted in shades of gray that match the somber palette of some of Picasso’s paintings in the years during and just after World War II and perhaps allude to the black-and-white photography that brought images of the war home. The candle depicted here serves as a memento mori, a reminder of mortality. The sculpture was created from a host of found materials unified by their casting in bronze. Picasso used the handlebars of a bicycle to represent the goat’s horns, and the heads of large bolts form its eyes. The goat's head is covered in a layer of corrugated cardboard that implies the direction of its hair. Nails are used for the tufts between its ears and for the rays of light emanating from the candle nestled in the bottle. In this and other of Picasso’s sculptures, found elements never fully give up their original identities even as they serve as parts of a sculptural whole.
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Pablo Picasso
Spanish, 1881–1973 1251 works onlineWith these words, Picasso shed light on two central principles of his artistic production over nearly 80 years: his openness to a diverse range of styles, subject matters, and mediums, and his resistance to the notion that change in art necessarily corresponds to improvement or progress.
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Six Sculptures
500Highlighting a small selection of works from the Museum’s collection, this gallery reflects the unfolding of new sculptural forms across the first half of the 20th century.
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