Carlos Casagemas

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Carlos Casagemas (* 1880 in Barcelona ; † February 17, 1901 in Paris ), Catalan : Carles Casagemas i Coll , was a Spanish painter who became known through his friendship with Pablo Picasso .

Life

Carlos Casagemas: Mujer vestida de Blanco , undated

Casagemas met Picasso in Barcelona in the early 1900s in the " Els Quatre Gats " café , which he frequented at that time. The two artists quickly became friends and at times shared a studio on Riera de Sant Joan . Financially better equipped than Picasso, he proposed a trip to Paris in late 1900 and contributed a large part of the travel expenses. While Picasso began to settle in the French capital and chose to live in Montmartre , Casagemas suffered from his unhappy love for Germaine Pichot , a Moulin Rouge dancer . The friends decided to celebrate the end of 1900 in Malaga , Picasso's birthplace. Carlos Casagemas, who was impotent, could not be cured of his lovesickness-related depression and became addicted to alcohol. In mid-January 1901 Picasso left for Madrid, while Casagemas returned to Paris. There he tried on February 17 in the Café de l'Hippodrome at 128 Boulevard de Clichy to kill his lover Germaine. But this failed. He then shot himself in the head.

Casagemas in Picasso's work

Picasso was deeply affected by this incident and six months later he painted three pictures: first Evocation - Casagema's funeral and the painting of his friend on his death bed, Casagemas' death . Friends had given him details of where the bullet hole was on his temple. Picasso later said that it was the shock of suicide, and especially this painting, that inspired his “ Blue Period ”. In 1903, two years after Casagemas' death, Picasso finally created the painting that crowned his “Blue Period”: La Vie . In the picture Casagemas is shown in a scene with a young woman and confronted with a mother with a child in her arms, from whom he distinguishes himself through a much-discussed gesture. X-ray examinations and preliminary studies show that Picasso initially planned his own portrait for the young man's head and only replaced it with that of his deceased friend at a later stage of work.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roland Penrose : Picasso . Flammarion 1958, pages 74-75, ISBN 978-2-080-81607-8
  2. ↑ Roland Penrose, Picasso , pp. 78-80
  3. ^ The Cleveland Museum of Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art probes the mysteries of Pablo Picasso's 'La Vie' in its first special Focus exhibition
  4. ^ William Rubin : Picasso et le portrait , Flammarion 1996, p. 240
  5. ^ William Rubin: Picasso et le portrait , Flammarion 1996, p. 240
  6. ↑ Cf. Gereon Becht-Jördens / Peter M. Wehmeier: Picasso and Christian Iconography. Mother relationship and artistic self-image . Reimer Verlag, Berlin 2003, pp. 96-98; Pp. 139-142; Pp. 149-151.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Casagemas, Carlos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Casagemas i Coll, Carles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Picasso's friend (around 1900), depicted on three paintings
DATE OF BIRTH 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH February 17, 1901
Place of death Paris