Picasso and the Space of Art

general courses

Reading Pablo Picasso’s paintings unveils the complexity of his creative process of searching for meaning in his life. His disjunctive modes of contemplation express what Heidegger calls contemplative thinking (besinnliches Nachdenken) and calls for constantly new departures for rethinking thinking. By turning to Picasso’s paintings, we read the past through the present and continually assign new meanings.

Pablo Picasso became a synonym for art’s ability to disrupt and challenge the expectations of the artist and spectators. Dealing with the powerful mystery of what it means to be a painter, Picasso discloses the limits and limitations of the work of art and the possibility of the artist to position and reposition oneself and the art objects within the picture plain. His ability and disability to construct and deconstruct the world call for the highest concentration of artistic creativity to respond to his passion for the world and art. In his enormously productive life, Picasso patiently shows us how a work of art liberates itself from the uniqueness and contingency of the circumstances in which it was created. To engage Picasso means to find a way to converse with his paintings and other works of art that are interrogative by nature. Together with him, we can make ourselves on the way through a (disc)losure of meaning by finding ourselves in the realm of art and its enchanting power of revealing and concealing.

Juan Larrea, Guernica, Pablo Picasso (New York: Curt Valentin, 1947).

Andrea Giunta, “The Power of Interpretation (or How MoMA explained Guernica to its audience),”https://doi.org/10.4000/artelogie.953

John Richardson, A Life of Picasso, 2 vols. (New York: Random House, 1991–96).

Brigitte Léal , Christine Piot, and Marie-Laure Bernadac, ed., The Ultimate Picasso (New York: Abrams, 2003).

Suzanne Blier, Picasso’s Demoiselles: The Untold Origins of a Modern Masterpiece (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2020).

Learning outcomes

Knowledge:

o student is familiar with new literature on the literature as indicated in the bibliography

o is familiar with philosophical hermeneutics and hermeneutic philosophy

o knows the state of research in the hermeneutics of painting and is able to design an innovative research project

Skills:

o can identify philosophical aspects of art

o can address the importance of feelings (curiosity, patience, courage, uncertainty, self-esteem) and validates them in the process of learning

o has skills in presenting aspects of philosophical hermeneutics in discussing issues in contemporary painting in an international setting

o can effectively communicate with other scholars in hermeneutic philosophy and liberal arts

o a creative and insightful student shows depth in thinking of and elaborating on original and novel ideas

Social competences:

o appreciates the need to learn to understand one’s life

o can set measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely goals and ways to achieve them in the context of academic, professional, and social activity

o sees the need for a dialogue between different academic disciplines and schools of thought

Students must attend classes, actively participate in discussions, and write a research paper of ca. 2500 words. The grade will be based on the paper 50%. Students should clear their topic with the instructor before writing. Final revised paper due Friday, June 21, 2024. Attendance/Active in-class participation (50%). Along with the final paper, students are required to submit a detailed report about their attendance and self-evaluation of their activity in the class.