Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Photography and portraiture - What was the cause of Picasso’s death?

What was the cause of Picasso’s death?

It should be admitted that few people can achieve as great a reputation as Picasso, or have such a great influence on the art of the 20th century. His works show the vitality of life and the endless exploration spirit of mankind in the 20th century, and have worldwide significance. He inherited the essence of traditional human art and touched many aspects of social life. On April 8, 1973, Picasso ended his career at the age of 91. Regarding his death, no one seems to have raised any doubts. He died of old age. What needs to be pointed out is that this man of infinite creativity has a distinct and distinctive personality. Picasso did not have a prosperous late period, and his fame distracted him. In order to avoid people's enthusiastic pursuit of him, he lived in seclusion in a villa on the top of a mountain and only received people he wanted to see. Until his death, he still loved practical jokes and bizarre tricks. This undoubtedly casts a layer of mystery on his death, and also provides evidence for people to explore the cause of his death. In June 1988, after five years of research, Greek female journalist Ariane Strathiopoulos Heintang published a new biography of Picasso in the United States: "Picasso, Creator and Destroyer", a book It reveals some little-known anecdotes about this artistic master. In her writing, Picasso was a rough, arbitrary, selfish, irresponsible, gloating, and scheming person. The book once mentioned that Picasso had a homosexual relationship with a young gypsy. Later, the gypsy left him and he vowed to take revenge. Ariana also wrote: Picasso met a 17-year-old girl Marie Theresa Walter on the streets of Paris and said to her: "I am Picasso, and you and I will become famous together. We are We will definitely be happy together." In France at that time, anyone under the age of 21 was considered a minor, but Picasso took possession of Marie Theresa on her 18th birthday. He placed Marie in a summer camp while he vacationed nearby with his wife, Olga Korava, a Russian ballet dancer. During the day, he used Mary as a model; at night, he used some pretext to sneak out and have a tryst with Mary. From then on, Picasso began to indulge in lust and became a terrible man. Shortly after Marie gave birth to his daughter Meia, Picasso met the female photographer Dora Maar again, so he abandoned Marie again. Therefore, long-term indulgence was an extremely important reason for Picasso's death. Otherwise, Picasso could live a few more years. According to Ariana: Many of the materials in the book were provided by Picasso's ex-wife Francois Gilot. Francois was Picasso's life partner from 1943 to 1953. Now she is married to a doctor. Half of this book is about her. After the book was published, it caused an uproar around the world. Art historian and biographer John Charleson once disclosed in the magazine "House and Garden" that Picasso had a little-known romance with a Parisian woman between 1915 and 1916. Charleson, who was once a friend of Picasso, said that the woman's name was Gabrielle De Pere Lespinas, and she was 27 years old when she met Picasso. The most surprising thing, Charleson said, was a small piece of paper tucked at the bottom of the frame of a sketch, on which Picasso wrote: "I have asked the good God to allow me to propose to you, Lespinasse." ". Picasso had never shown any interest in marriage before this, although he later had two wives and many mistresses. This incident proves that no one knows how many mistresses Picasso had in his life, thus providing a strong footnote to the theory of indulgence. Some scholars try to explore Picasso's death from the perspective of art laws and the relationship between art and women. Picasso received inspiration from countless women throughout his life. If the artist's love, marriage and family status are in a relatively harmonious and beautiful stage, it will create a good creative mood and environment for the artist. Among the various personal factors that contribute to the explosion of an artist's creative power, emotional factors are often a "fuse." Picasso's creative enthusiasm and creative work only regained their youthful vitality after marrying his last wife, Jacqueline. Without Jacqueline's presence and inspiration from her, Picasso's last 10 years would not have been so fulfilling. In Picasso's works of the last ten years, we can see the intertwining of the tranquility of life brought by marriage and the encouragement he received from his wife, who was 40 years younger than him, and the approaching shadow of death. However, according to the research of scholars and experts, in the last year of Picasso's life, Jacqueline, who was loved by Picasso, was "nervous" and "took too many sleeping pills, almost like half a patient." This made Picasso feel infinitely sad and had to affect his life and creative enthusiasm. Sadness tortures this artistic master all the time. In addition, from the perspective of the law of artistic creation, after the peak period, there is an irreversible decline period. Even great artists cannot escape the fate of declining creative power. Therefore, Picasso is not immune. Judging from the actual creation of Picasso in the last few years, this is fully proved. These two reasons were a huge blow to Picasso. Picasso died of depression in this atmosphere. Some scholars have questioned this and believe that the evidence is insufficient. From an objective point of view, due to Picasso's eccentric personality, mysterious behavior, and avoidance of talking about many things, it is impossible for people to know the truth. In addition, after Picasso's death, there was a lack of detailed death report, which will inevitably cause confusion for future generations. Speculation and controversy.