Angela Liu:
Let your eyes wander across this intriguing combination of objects: a goat’s skull, a bottle, and a candle. Two are everyday items, yet they are joined by a grim, morbid companion. Even more intriguing, Picasso made two versions of this theme—once as a painting, and once as a sculpture, both seen here. What is so compelling about this image that drew Picasso to it again and again?
Picasso began working on the sculpture in 1951, and he made the painting in 1952. He then completed the sculpture in 1953. Why did he jump back and forth? Picasso once said, ‘Sculpture is the best comment that a painter can make on painting.’ Like he is performing a magic trick, Picasso manages to pull his ideas about shapes and perspectives from the two-dimensional painting into the real world.
Let’s start with this painting. Notice how the round vase is emphasised by the angular lines at the top. As you look down, the vase appears almost three-dimensional, as if it’s carved from a block.
Now let’s look at the sculpture. Even though it’s now an object in real space, the vase seems much flatter than in the painting. You can imagine how Picasso delighted in transforming our perception of reality through both works—conjuring a voluminous body in a painting while he flattens out real objects. And that’s not his only playful trick. Take a look at the horns in the sculpture. These are actually the handlebars of a bicycle!
