Visiting Picasso

the notebooks and letters of Roland Penrose

de Elizabeth Cowling

"Published here for the first time, these lively writings bring to life with a rare vividness the work, ideas, and milieu of Roland Penrose's friendand the subject of his much-acclaimed 1958 biographyPablo Picasso. What makes the notebooks and correspondence so important is also what makes them so exhilarating and fresh. They are not reconstructions after the event, filtered through memory or rephrased with an eye to literary style. The immediacy of the jottings gives the reader the uncanny sensation of actually being present during Penrose's frequent encounters with Picasso and his circleat home with the artist, at bullfights, at the beach, in the studio. The book is filled with anecdotes, incidents, sharp details, and actual conversations that are unconstrained by deference, objectivity, or the need for discretion. Confidential, off-the-record remarks made by the artist's family, associates, and former lovers are all here, as are Penrose's own candid observations of Picasso's behavior. Fascinating descriptions of Picasso at work afford rare insights into the making of his masterpieces, including Guernica and other great works up to the time of his death."--Publisher's website.