The Mystery Of Picasso

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The Mystery Of Picasso 

[ HiGloss / DVD ]

Release Date: Thursday 5 December 2013

This item is currently out of stock. We expect to be able to supply it to you within 2 - 4 weeks from when you place your order.

The Mystery of Picasso (French: Le mystère Picasso) is a 1956 French documentary film about the painter Pablo Picasso. It shows Picasso in the act of creating paintings for the camera. Most of the paintings were subsequently destroyed so that they would only exist on film.

Like a matador confronting a bull, the artist approaches his easel. As he wields his brush, the painting dances into being before our eyes. Pablo Picasso, the most influential artist of the 20th century, is making art, and famous French director Henri-Georges Clouzot (Diabolique, The Wages of Fear) is making a movie.

This entirely new kind of art documentary captures the moment and the mystery of creativity; for the film, the master created 20 artworks, ranging from playful black-and-white sketches to widescreen color paintings. Using inks that bled through the paper, Picasso rapidly created fanciful drawings that Clouzot was able to film from the reverse side, capturing their creation in real time. When the artist decided to paint in oils, the filmmaker switched to color film and employed the magic of stop-motion animation.

By contract, almost all of these paintings were destroyed when the film was completed. Unavailable for more than a decade, "The Mystery of Picasso" is exhilarating, mesmerizing, and unforgettable; it is simply one of the greatest documentaries on art ever made. The French government agrees; in 1984 it declared the film a national treasure.

Won Jury Special Prize, Cannes Film Festival (1956)
Nominated for Palme d'Or, Cannes Film Festival (1956)

French with English subtitles

Rating: E