289. Young Picasso; movie review

YOUNG PICASSO
Cert PG
91 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild sex references, suicide references

Whenever you see Picasso's weird paintings being sold for tens of millions of pounds do you, like me, think: "I could have drawn that."
Or do you wonder whether he and other abstract artists could draw 'real' subjects?
The ever-excellent Phil Grabsky's Young Picasso put such simple thoughts to bed by highlighting the genius of the artist from an early age.
It shows how, at just seven, he drew an impressive harbour scene and was then inspired by his father to work on portraits.
Indeed, right up until his late teens, Picasso was painting the sort of pictures which impressed people but didn't challenge them.
Grabsky's movie follows Picasso's life from his earliest days in Malaga through to Barcelona and on to Paris where he really made his mark.
From an early stage, he was prolific and had a deep desire to lap up artistic influences and transfer his experiences to the canvas.
Young Picasso visits each of the cities and hears from art historians and Picasso's grandson who add great depth to the chronology.
The film explains how Picasso graduated from talented child to acclaimed young artist, examining his so-called blue and rose periods.
It finally leads into the moment when Picasso shook the art world with his painting Les Demoiselles d"Avignon.
This was the piece which was created after he had visited an exhibition of tribal masks. It was the foundation for the remainder of his career and was the prelude to the work for which he became renowned.
Inevitably, much of Grabsky's film is quite high-brow because most of those interviewed are academics but it is, nevertheless, an absorbing biopic and taught me a great deal about the formative years of one of art's greatest names.

Reasons to watch: In-depth biopic of one of art's great names
Reasons to avoid: Quite academic in parts

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: On paintings
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? Picasso's full name has 23 words. His real name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso.

The final word. Pablo Picasso: "There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterwards, you can remove all traces of reality."

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