EVENTS
When he was thirteen years old he initiated into two mysteries – the mystery of power and the mystery of death. His seven years old sister Conchita was suffering of diphtheria. He saw his parents struggle to save her. He confused that they also celebrated Christmas and gave presents to the children, and tried to protect her from any knowledge of death. Sad Picasso made a terrible agreement with God that if the God could save his sister he would never pickup brush again. At last, his sister died and he thought that the God was evil. At the same time he was convinced that it was possible for the God to kill Conchita and believed in the power of the God. He was also convinced that the death of his sister had released him to be a painter.
The family moved to Barcelona after the death of his sister. During his early days in Barcelona he drew a picture "Christ Blessing the Devil" which was the evidence of the deep conflict raging within him. Christ with a shining aura around his head is blessing with his left hand on overwhelmed Devil. At the same time he painted ‘The Holy Family in Egypt’ and ‘Alter to the Bless Virgin’.
During 1896 he drew many religious pictures : Christ appearing to a Nun, "Christ being adorned by The Angels," ‘The renunciation,’ The Last Supper, The Resurrection. He gave a tender expression to some of the most powerful symbols of religious worship, but he did a picture of Christ with no face – impersonal, unreal and without answers. Whenever he himself got into a trouble in any matter for example he was raided or had his sculptures cast in Bronze when doing so illegal or caught smuggling currency out of the country someone was able to silent the things up for him. |
Andre-Louis Dobois in ministry of the Interior was not able to help him and a German Ambassador was also helpless. Arno, Broker – Hitler’s favorite sculptor who appealed directly to Himmler’s assistant the SS general. Henrich Muller, "If you lay a hand on Picasso (he warned them in the matter of currency) the world’s press will cause such an uproar you will leave dizzy. If Muller did not sign the document to put on end to any action against Picasso would appeal directly to the Fuhrer. Muller knew that on the Fuhrer’s orders statues from the squares of Paris had been melted down to provide bronze to cast the work of Arno Broker. And he withheld his signature. In his biography Broker recorded what Hitler said, "In politics all the artists are innocents like Parsifal. "Picasso’s friend Casagemas shot the lady he loved and then shot himself and died. The effect of this tragedy was very deep on Picasso. He had gained the emotional experience which stimulate the powerful expression of the works of the so called ‘Blue Perion’. Various shades of blue dominated his work for the next few years. He painted two death portraits of Casagemas in 1901 as well as two funeral scenes (‘Personnes on devil and Evocation’).
