Architecture in Art

Picasso painted the Joie De Vivre (Joy of Life) in 1946 during a six month stay in the Grimaldi castle in the seaside town of Antibes in the South of France. Twenty years later, that castle became the eponymous museum displaying the work.

Fast forward forty-six years and I find myself standing in front of this masterpiece quite possibly in the same room Picasso laid brush to canvas. Joy of life indeed!.

Like so many before me, I was inspired when I saw this amazing work. Beyond the composition, figures, and colors, I looked for the elements within. Voids, friction and tension caught my eye. I saw the spaces supporting and defining the figures. I saw architecture!

The following depicts what I saw in Joie De Vivre as highlighted below with the one in red as my focus.

When I considered these forms, I wanted to avoid assigning them a purpose, scale or materiality. They're not meant to represent a home or a particular building, instead, I wanted to explore potential relationships and compositions, with hopes of starting a dialogue.

Inspired? What do you see? Care to share? Please leave comments below.

I’ll be posting a different study every month. I’m open to suggestions as to a particular painting or artist for a future post.

Info links that you might find interesting:

Antibes: Musee Picasso

NYT Article: Picasso & 1946

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