Paul Klee's A Bright View of a Dark Time

Ipad Rendering of A Bright View of a Dark Time by Paul Klee

Paul Klee is the underdog. Almost completely eclipsed by Picasso, he did not have the opportunity to fully shine. He was as productive and prolific as any of his peers producing more than 10,000 works in a multitude of styles.
The Tate Modern Museum in London is about to open a retrospective of his work and give him some overdue respect. So this week we'll celebrate the underdog!

Interpretations of Picasso's Nude on a Beach

Picasso's Beach, pencil and colored pencil, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

I took most of my ideas for this weeks interpretations from the colors and simple shapes of Picasso's Nude on a Beach. Picasso used a limited palette of yellows, blues, blacks, and red-orange. If you think of the beach, it is very simply colored and quite stark. The shapes are very stark as well.

Portrait in Sand, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Ocean Water, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Bones in the Sand, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Ocean Form, watercolor and ink, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Water, monoprint, copyright Gio Leung, 2013

Shadow Forms, pencil and colored pencil, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Blue Shell, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Travelling in Picasso's Nude on a Beach

If Picasso's Nude on a Beach were a place, it HAS to be............

Antibes, France!

Picasso's Nude on a Beach

Ipad rendering of Picasso's Nude on a Beach

It's June and Summer is finally here! Picasso's beach paintings fit the Summer mood perfectly. The viewer can feel the hot sand, the cool water, and the playfulness of Picasso's lines. Every painting is fun and feels like a vacation.

The series of beach paintings I love most are those picturing the beginning of Picasso's love affair with Marie-Therese Walter. She was only 17 years old and Picasso was 46 and married with children. The age difference is startling, but Picasso must have been magnetic, considering his many love affairs. They met on the beach and Picasso was instantly enthralled. They had a secret love affair, there on the beach, hiding away from his wife Olga. This painting in particular shows how this secret became his work. Many of the paintings are quite erotic.

Picasso obviously loved the beach. He spent a lot of time in the South of France with his family and his many lovers. It all comes out in his work. The beach was obviously a great inspiration to him.