PABLO PICASSO AND ALBERT CAMUS

                                         

PABLO  PICASSO AND ALBERT CAMUS 

( In this photo : Sartre and Camus sitting while other artists including Picasso are standing)

Pablo Picasso had a long association with Paris. During our  visit to Montmartre locality in  Paris , we were  shown the house where Picasso lived and also the restuarant that he frequented. During this period, Albert Camus also lived in   Montmartre locality. In fact  Camus completed the manuscript of his well-known novel ,"The Outsider" while residing at Montmartre hill. It used to be somewhat bohemian locality  where artists, writers and struggles lived. It offered silence , elevation , fresh air and panoramic view of the city . Housing and food was cheaper than city . 

                                              

Picasso also wrote poetry and plays before totally shifting to paintings . He was known for his ceramic work and also sculptures apart from  stage designs . He wrote two important plays and hundreds of poems during 1940s and 50s . A  pioneer of Cubism,  he  made significant contributions to art, but he did write a few  plays as well during early period of his creative life. . He alo designed sets and costumes for several ballets and plays, like "Parade" (1917) and "Le Tricorne" (1919) .

In the winter months  of 1941, soon after the Germans occupied Paris, in three days Picasso wrote a play script in French titled "Desire Caught by the Tail". However, it was only in 1944 that the play was staged in  Paris, Those who acted in the play included  Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, Valentine Hugo, Raymond Keno and Picasso himself. The play was directed  and staged under the supervision of Albert Camus. The event was conceived as an act of artistic and political resistance during the occupation. The play itself is considered abstract, with a non-linear narrative and characters with unusual names like "Big Foot," "Onion," and "The Curtains". Some critics believe Picasso never intended the play to be fully staged, only read. The Living Theatre of the US  made the play a part of their first critical success. 

( Avtar Mota )

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