Picasso the Sculptor

Photograph of Pablo Picasso. Commentary on his hands, with images from the photograph, bronze Bras Verticale (1959), Cast of Picasso’s Hand photographed by Brassaï (1944), and Blind Minotaur Guided by a Young Girl With Flowers / Minotaur aveugle guidé par une fillette I (1934). Mask of a Blind Singer / Masque d’un chanteur aveugle (1903), Head of Picador with a Broken Nose / Tête de picador (1903). Commentary talks about Picasso’s interest in texture. La coiffure (Étude) (1906); bronze of same subject, Femme se coiffant (1906). One of the drawings from the Man With Sheep / L’Homme au Mouton series; details of the bronze version (1943). Bronze Flayed Head (Death’s Head) / La Tête de Mort (1943). Bronze Pregnant Woman / La femme enceinte (1950-1959); The Orator / L’Orateur (1937), clay with pattern imprinted on it; photograph of Picasso with same piece. Head of a Warrior / Tête casquée (1933) alongside several early 1930s Tête de femme / Head of a Woman, modelled in plaster then cast in bronze, which have "a condensation of all female sensuality and magic". Photograph of same. Nu debout de profil (1907); Figure (1907), roughly chiselled from a block of wood. A pencil study for Tête de femme (Fernande) (1909); the sculpture. Painting. Cubist construction, Mandoline et clarinette / Mandolin and Clarinet (1913), Guitare / Guitar (1912-1913), Guitar (1914), Violon et bouteille sur une table (1915), Guitar (1924). Commentary says that these constructions came at the same time "as the invention of collage". Pipe, verre et bouteille de rhum (1914). Still Life (1914). Verre et paquet de tabac (1921). The Absinthe Glass (1914), the only example of "a Cubist object made in the round". Wire Figure (1928) and its shadow, "walls and a window, enclosing a human figure, all made of empty space". La femme au jardin (1929), made from welded scrap metal. Tête d’une femme (1929-1930), part of which is an old colander. Charcoal drawing Sculpture d’une tête (Marie-Thérèse) (1932): Picasso "dismembers and reconstructs the human head…": Tête de femme / Head of a Woman (1931). The Crucifixion after Grünewald / La Crucifixion (Grünewald) (1932), and Femme sur socle (Baigneuse allongée) / Reclining Bather (1931) illustrating Picasso’s anatomical skills. Statuettes including two Baigneuse (1931-1932). The bronze La femme au feuillage (1934) has "an impressive presence". Femme accoudée (1933). The Reaper / Le faucheur (1943), the head formed from the imprint of a lemon squeezer. Photograph of Picasso at table with bread roll "hands". Commentary talks about use of found objects in which "nondescript trash finds favour and takes on an appropriate meaning…": Bull’s Head / Tête de taureau (1942). La grue / The Crane (1952), The Baboon with her Child / Le guenon et son petit (1951) – different views showing toy car of the top of the head. Photographs of Picasso with various objects. Woman with a Pushchair / La femme à la poussette (1950). Girl Skipping / Petite fille sautant à la corde (1950). The Goat / La chèvre (1950). Goat, Skull and Bottle / Crâne de chèvre, bouteille et bougie (1951). La liseuse (1952). Petit hibou (1953). Four figures made from broken toys, bits of wood, etc.; Figure (1935). Three angular metal figures including Le jeune homme (1958). Baigneuse jouant (1958). Bouquet de fleurs (1951). Bronze vase of flowers. Torn paper with cigarette burn holes representing a child’s head. Four sculptures of "rough boards and blocks of wood" including Mère et enfant (1953) and other "dolls". Group of women’s faces painted on sheet-metal including Sylvette (1954). Two Footballer / Footballeur (1961).Ceramic Chouette (1949). Photograph of Picasso holding two clay birds. Group of five clay doves including Colombe (1953) and Colombe aux œufs (1953). Cruche (1950), together with a vulture. Chouette en colère (1950-1953) and another small owl. Vase à deux anses décoré d’une tête de faune et d’une chouette (1961). Painted sheet-metal owl. Various sheet-metal women’s head from late 1950s and early 1960s including Tête de femme (1962). Various etiolated wooden Femme debout and Femme assise, all from 1930. Metal trumpet player and another male figure. More sheet-metal heads including Head of a Woman (1961). Centaure (1950) and Femme couronnée de fleurs (1954). Three painted ceramic figures including Bouteille: Femme agenouillée (1950). Vase: femme (1949), Vase: femme à la mantille (1949), and Femme debout (1949). Tête de femme à la résille (1948-1950) and Grande tête (1950). A bronze head. Commentary talks about Picasso’s ability "to invent new versions of anatomy": Head of a Man / Tête d’homme (1930); La Femme au jardin; a 1931 Buste de femme. Bronze heads. Head of a Baigneuse (1931-1932). A Visage (1931-1932). Tête de femme (1951) alongside another bronze woman’s head. More sheet-metal heads. The 1967 Tête, a head "drawn in space. More sheet-metal heads, several painted in bright colours. Tête de femme (1962) (painted tile) and Fragment of Brick Decorated with the Face of a Woman / Fragment de brique décoré d’un visage de femme (1962). General view of several painted tiles, etc. Credits over sheet-metal falcon.

Narrator Jill Balcon;
Camera Ian McMillan;
Editors Bruce Beresford,
Jane Wood;
Writer Director Roland Penrose.
Made by the British Film Institute for the Arts Council of Great Britain.