Picasso Prints: Natural History, Part 1

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This series of prints is considered by many to be among Picasso's most important graphic productions.  

LE BOEUF / The Ox, 1936
Histoire Naturelle

Etching with Aquatint by Pablo Picasso

Picasso was asked by publisher, Ambroise Vollard, to create a set of prints for the encyclopaedic work, Histoire Naturelle by George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon.  In 1936, Picasso took up the task and in just over a month produced 32 plates (sugar lift aquatints). 

Le Belier / The Ram, 1941-42 
Sugarlift aquatint and drypoint etching by Pablo Picasso

It would not be till 1942 that 31 of the 32 prints would be published. In book form, the prints of animals, birds, insects, etc were presented along with texts by Buffon selected by the publisher. 

La Biche / The Doe, 1942

Etching by Pablo Picasso

The one print not to appear in the book was entitled 'The Flea' and was the only print to include a human. The flea was so small that it could hardly be made out. Perhaps that is why it was left out of the book.   (Source)

Le Cheval / The Horse, 1942

Etching by Pablo Picasso

The etchings have often been interpreted as subtle projections of the artist's enigmatic personality. The prancing horse (for example) is taken to represent his defiant attitude to life.  (Source)

L'AIGLE BLANC
Histoire Naturelle

Etching with aquatint by Pablo Picasso


Combining a wide variety of techniques, including lift-ground aquatint, etching and drypoint, Picasso produced images of great clarity, immediacy and beauty. (Source)

LE SINGE / The Monkey, 1942
Histoire Naturelle

Etching with Aquatint by Pablo Picasso

LE LION, 1942
Histoire Naturelle

Etching with Aquatint by Pablo Picasso


Click here to see Part 2 of this post.
Click here to see Part 3 of this post.

Our Little Museum of Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art

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Watiya Jukurrpa, 1999

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Mitjili Naparrula, born 1945

After the first wave of innovation by men of the western desert, women began to emerge with strong distinctive styles of their own. Mitjili Naparrula watched her brother and husband paint before taking up brushes herself. She chooses to focus on mulga trees that grow on her father’s land, where the trees stand out against red sandhills and above bushes and grasses. Pushing the tree branches to the limits of the canvas, she suggests the vivid play of growth against the shimmering sands.

http://seattleartmuseum.org/ancestralmodern/

Wati Kutjarra (Two Brothers Dreaming), 2004

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

Tjumpo Tjapanangka, 1929–2007

Two brothers created land forms and models of behavior that appear in many narratives of the Western Desert. In this painting, they have created a vast salt-encrusted lake known as Wilkinkarra (Lake Mackay). Tjumpo Tjapanangka reminds us of their presence by gently inserting two vertical lines at the top and bottom to indicate where the brothers camped. Across the middle is a white line where they built a protective windbreak. His formal symmetry reflects the ordered nature of ancestral creation. Known for walking vast distances himself, the artist’s work is committed to his custodianship of these epics and the sites that he grew up in.

http://seattleartmuseum.org/ancestralmodern/

Utopia Aboriginal Art:  An Aboriginal Painting from the Central Desert

Utopia Aboriginal Art and artists today follow the tradition of the famous artist Emily Kame Kngwarreye, who paved the way for a contemporary and abstract style depicted in fine dotting work. Women artists dominate this community.  They maintain their traditional ceremonial ways by paying homage in their art work to their role as food gatherers.

http://www.aboriginalartstore.com.au/aboriginal-art-culture/utopia-aboriginal-art.php

Bush Melon by Minnie Pwerle

http://www.aaia.com.au/design/display.php?painting=1631&artist=Minnie%20Pwerle&title=Bush%20melon&cat=1631&size=90%20x%20142%20cm

Australian Aboriginal Art: A Little History

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The native peoples of Australia, called Aborigines, have their own unique culture, art forms and traditions that differ from anywhere else in the world. 

http://fklebe.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/australian-aborigines/

They were secluded from outside influences by the Indian and Pacific Oceans until English settlement began in the late 18th century. 

Despite the coming of the English settlers, the ancient customs and art practices of the Aborigines have remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years.  Australia’s aboriginal peoples still practice one of the world’s oldest continuous artistic traditions.

Aboriginal Festival in Australia

http://dailyculturaldiplomacynews.wordpress.com/author/alexkersten/page/3/

Some of the world's longest surviving art forms are found in Australia, like ancient Aboriginal rock carvings 

http://www.eniar.org/news/burrup18.html

... ancient rock paintings ...

http://ikono.org/2012/04/ancient-aboriginal-rock-art-to-be-catalogued/

... as well as bark paintings .... 

ARNHEMLAND BARK PAINTING

Eucalyptus bark, natural earth pigments

 Arnhemland, Northern Territory, Australia

http://www.lewispaul.com/

As you can see, Australian rock and bark art are some of the most spectacular in the world.

http://natural-history.uoregon.edu/collections/web-galleries/aboriginal-australian-bark-paintings 

 

"Dot Painting" is another traditional Aboriginal art form in which minute dots, painted with natural pigments from plants and seeds, are used to create patterns and symbols.

Contemporary Aboriginal art still uses natural canvases, such as bodies, wooden planks or rock carvings, as they have been for thousands of years.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/list_6707300_aboriginal-art-children.html