Recently I visited the opening weekend (for members only) at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario), of the Pablo Picasso exhibit.
I didn’t set out to pepper my post with Pablo Picasso quotes but somehow they’ve weaved their way into it. During the exhibit I wrote some notes (see below) and one word I used was narcissist. If he was narcissistic, I’ve certainly played into it here.
At any rate, I was stunned at the breadth of mediums in which Pablo worked upon. Canvas, wood, steel, bronze, photography — it was as if he worked on anything he could get his hands on — as if everything was for him to play with, create upon, mold, mix, and tamper with. He was prolific and relentless — two traits for sure success!
Before this exhibition, I had limited thoughts about Pablo Picasso. I was familiar with his Cubism but I wasn’t prepared for what else I saw. You too may have your thoughts challenged after seeing this huge body of work.
The exhibit took me about 1.5 hours to traverse.
With Taurus Neptune, Pluto, and Jupiter in his 10th, Venus Sextile Ascendant, and Pisces on the 9th — clearly he was well suited to the sensual body arts — including painting, and working with one’s hands. And having Chiron in there says to me that he used his art as a way to heal the inner demons of his Sun and Mercury in the 4th.
For those who know how to read, I have painted my autobiography. (Pablo Picasso)
It appears that he couldn’t speak about the depths of pain he witnessed, while growing up and that shows up strongly in his Mercury aspects.
Having Aquarius on the 7th caused a love/hate relationship in his relationships. He loved his freedom but also wanted to control his women. Leo risings can appear innocent and playful until they feel out of control. This control also shows up in Venus Trine Pluto amd Moon Opposite Pluto. But these placements also suggest he had willing victims or rather Plutonian women attracted to his own powerful, restrictive, manipulative, and forceful nature!
He also had Jupiter Conjunct Algol! Off with her head and would have been seen for how busted the self-esteem of the women in his life.
His Taurus stellium gave him a tenacity to succeed in the art world. He would not tolerate being snubbed. Jupiter Conjunct Neptune in the 10th would assure that and if you got in his way, watch out for Plutonian bullying and Aries pushing (Mars on the 10th and in the 12th) of his artwork.
Action is the foundational key to success. (Pablo Picasso)
Notably all his 10th house planets are retrograde. This generally shows an inward reflection and as I’ve said above, I believe he used his art as a psychological outlet for what he could not express in a spoken way. But with retrograded planets in a public house, he may have felt too exposed at times.
Saturn in the 10th shows he was serious about his art but that he would also be somewhat delayed in his achievement and with Saturn Conjunct Neptune, I imagine he was always fighting feeling like a fraud. He probably found it ludicrous that so much money came his way (for what he did — experiments and playful chicken-scratching as he might have seen a lot of his work) but with Jupiter Conjunct Pluto, he was destined to make that kind of money with this art. He also may have felt that for every step forward, he had to take two steps back (in some way) though his Mars Sextile Saturn would put up with it even if others took note of his impatience to move forward quickly.
As for his wealth, as I mentioned earlier that shows up with Jupiter Taurus Conjunct Pluto in the 10th! He tapped into and expanded old money and people with deep pockets — collectors and patrons!
It’s funny, I have no desire to explain what his individual paintings, sculptures, etc. mean as I don’t think they really mean anything. Rather, they are fierce expressions of feeling, thought, and the times — nothing more and after pouring through his quotes (after writing up my impressions) Picasso seems to agree:
Those trying to explain pictures are as a rule completely mistaken. (Pablo Picasso) and What I want is that my picture should evoke nothing but emotion. (Pablo Picasso)
While I was at the exhibit, I wrote some notes (below) and did some artwork.
And I thank Pablo with helping me create a pair of sensual lips.
Good artists borrow. Great artists steal. (Pablo Picasso)
Interestingly enough, one of my sister’s thought I had drawn one of my other sister’s and she happens to be a Taurus. And I’ve noticed that Taurus women have unmistakeable lips! Have you noticed this too? Another interesting thing is that Pablo has a stellium in Taurus.
Some notes I made while walking around the exhibit. I wrote these notes before seeing his quotes. I won’t get into what I think they mean but they might strike a thought for you.
- Playing cards
- Salome 1905
- One missing eye (destructive)
- Different styles, ways of expressing, shading (Uranus aspects)
- Experimental (Uranus aspects)
- Fast & quick (Aries)
- Studies
- Unfinished feel
- Landscape with figures blended into environment
- The Thoth Tower tarot card (Cubism, same time period!)
- Playing with dimensions and 3D
- Grotesque sculptures
- Overemphasized features
- Body parts disassembled (destruction, dissociative)
- Power
- Narcissism
- Vibrant colors
- Pop art: Portrait of Dora Maar
- Preoccupation with Bulls & Balls (Taurus) — masculinity
- Dr. Who’s Cybermen (Massacre in Korea)
- Difficulty dealing with the pain of women
- Difficulty understanding women
As usual, I’m just scratching the surface. It’d take hours and long discussion to flush out Pablo, the man and the artist!
I was quite glad to have had the opportunity to experience Picasso, up close and personal, but I’ll be forthright in saying that I was happy when it was over. I felt like I had got injected with a large dose of testosterone, ego tripping, and self-flagellation!
Anyway, the exhibit was superb and well-put together — it flowed nicely!
And I hope it goes without saying that an aspect doesn’t mean just one thing. I’ve just paired the impressions of the exhibit with what he had in his chart. I knew little about the man or his art until after doing my reading and seeing his work. And there are many ways for an aspect to manifest.
Too light of a drawing of "Head of a Woman with Hair Bun: (quick sketch of two sides)
Try your hand at being a Picasso at Mr. Picasso Head.
Astrology Matched with Pablo Picasso Quotes
If you take my sayings and explode them in the air, they remain only sayings. But if you fit them together in their correct places, you will have the whole story. (Pablo Picasso)
The same goes for astrology as well. An aspect or signature is only part of the chart. To know the whole story of a person or person’s, all those bits will need to be read together. Intelligent man!
Below are some of those bits fitting with some of his bits. Not the whole story but getting to it, nonetheless…
Sun Scorpio in the 4th: When you come right down to it, all you have is yourself. Yourself is a sun with a thousand fires in your belly. The rest is nothing. (Pablo Picasso) “For me, the picture is the sum of the destruction . I make a painting, and then I destroy it.” (Pablo Picasso) Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. (Pablo Picasso) Painting isn’t an aesthetic operation; it’s a form of magic designed as a mediator between this strange, hostile world and us, a way of seizing the power by giving form to our terrors as well as our desires. (Pablo Picasso) No, painting is not made to decorate apartments, it’s an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy. (Pablo Picasso)
Sun Opposite Midheaven: People don’t realize what they have when they own a picture by me. Each picture is a phial with my blood. That is what has gone into it. (Pablo Picasso)
Sun Opposite Saturn: I don’t know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more than I decide beforehand what colours I am going to use. (Pablo Picasso)
Mercury Scorpio in the 4th, Mercury Opposite Neptune, Jupiter, Pluto, Midheaven, Chiron: Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. (Pablo Picasso) I don’t say everything, but I paint everything. (Pablo Picasso) Often while reading a book one feels that the author would have preferred to paint rather than write; one can sense the pleasure he derives from describing a landscape or a person, as if he were painting what he is saying, because deep in his heart he would have preferred to use brushes and colors. (Pablo Picasso)
Neptune in the 10th, Pisces in the 8th: The people who make art their business are mostly imposters. (Pablo Picasso)
Saturn Conjunct Neptune: Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies. If he only shows in his work that he has searched, and researched, for the way to put over lies, he would never accomplish anything. (Pablo Picasso) What the artist gains in the way of liberty he loses in the way of order. (Pablo Picasso) You have to start somewhere. You can always erase reality later on. (Pablo Picasso) Everything you can imagine is real. (Pablo Picasso) Academic training in beauty is a sham. We have been so deceived, but so well deceived that we can scarcely get back even a shadow of the truth. (Pablo Picasso) Art is a lie that helps us to realize the truth. (Pablo Picasso) We now know that Art is not the truth… but rather a way of approaching the truth. (Pablo Picasso) We all know that art is not truth. Art is the lie that makes us realize truth – at least the truth that is given us to understand. (Pablo Picasso) The world today doesn’t make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do? (Pablo Picasso)
It’s interesting that Pablo has made a lot of statements that connect to the Saturn-Neptune conjunction he has in his natal chart. It’s in the 10th house and it’s obvious he has a strong connection between reality and fantasy which essentially this aspect means.
Sun Square Ascendant: I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. (Pablo Picasso)
Sun Semi-square Uranus, Uranus in the 2nd Trine Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn in the 10th!- By amusing myself with all these games, all this nonsense, all these picture puzzles, I became famous… I am only a public entertainer who has understood his time. – (Pablo Picasso)
Uranus Aspects: I have never made radically different experiments. Whenever I wanted to say something, I said it the way I believed I should. (Pablo Picasso) His Uranus aspects would suggest something different and I also noted his experimental nature in his art! Aha, he goes on to betray this quote: I must keep on trying, just to keep the experiment going until I get tired of it all. Even if the last result is not necessarily the best, I stop when my interest in the problem wanes. (Pablo Picasso) - What good are computers? They can only give you answers. (Pablo Picasso) I see for others… in order to put on canvas the sudden apparitions which come to me. (Pablo Picasso)
Uranus Leo in the 2nd: I’d like to live like a poor man with lots of money. (Pablo Picasso)
As an Artist, Pablo reminds me to..
Paintings are but research and experiment. I never do a painting as a work of art. All of them are researches. I search constantly and there is a logical sequence in all this research. (Pablo Picasso)
To blossom forth, a work of art must ignore or rather forget all the rules. (Pablo Picasso)
The painter goes through states of fullness and evaluation. That is the whole secret of art. (Pablo Picasso)
I do not seek. I find. (Pablo Picasso)
If you’re trying to find something, it means you haven’t got it. And if you find it simply by looking for it, that means it’s false. (Pablo Picasso)
I don’t know in advance what I am going to put on canvas any more than I decide beforehand what colours I am going to use. (Pablo Picasso)
Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working. (Pablo Picasso)
Art is the elimination of the unnecessary. (Pablo Picasso)
If only we could pull out our brain and use only our eyes. (Pablo Picasso)
If I paint a wild horse, you might not see the horse, but you will surely see the wildness. (Pablo Picasso)
This is how it is for me too…
We have some similar aspects and we both have Neptune in the 10th.
You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea. (Pablo Picasso)
I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. (Pablo Picasso)
Unless your work gives you trouble, it is no good. (Pablo Picasso)
A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it is being done it changes as one’s thoughts change. (Pablo Picasso)
One never knows what one is going to do. One starts a painting and then it becomes something quite else. It is remarkable how little the ‘willing’ of the artist intervenes. (Pablo Picasso)
I consider a work of art as a product of calculations, calculations that are frequently unknown to the author himself. (Pablo Picasso)
What I achieve the first day can be perfectly valid, but it is not satisfying. If I can go that far spontaneously, then I must shed that result as an old skin and inquire further into the unknown, or at least the not-yet-known-to-myself. (Pablo Picasso)
While I am working I am not conscious of what I am putting on the canvas. (Pablo Picasso)
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