Picasso: challenging the past

Last week after class I wandered along to the National Gallery to see the Picasso exhibition. They give you a little booklet (rather than have everyone crowding round to read the captions), which is brilliant. I decided to draw (ie, really look at) one picture in each room.

As the exhibition is about how Picasso drew on other art - he was "a voracious consumer of images" and "used the art of the past as a source of energy and innovation"- the booklet shows relevant paintings from the National Gallery and other collections - including one of my favourites, the self-portrait "in a straw hat" by Elisabeth Vigee LeBrun, which itself is based on a portrait by Rubens (held by the National Gallery).
The final room shows variations on pivotal works of Wesern art by Velasquez, Delacroix and Manet. One fascination of the Delacroix (Women of Algiers, 1834) is the resemblance between his new companion Jacqueline Roque and the woman on the right.

The 1863 Manet "gave rise to Picasso's most radical and obsessive series of variations" and to a series of cardboard cut-outs, which were for me the most surprising and delightful part of the exhibition. They were shown on glass shelves, and the shadows added to the display.