Pablo Picasso, the genius artist Spain produced, died on April 8, 1973. Various mourning events are being held across the world to mark the 50th anniversary of his death. In Spain, doves, that symbol of peace Picasso so dearly loved, were released early in the morning of April 8, the date of his passing, from the courtyard of the Museo Picasso Málaga, which opened in Malaga, his birthplace, in 2003 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of his passing. I understand that the event included prayers for the end of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.


Photo 1
Photo 1 shows doves taking flight from the courtyard of the Museo Picasso Málaga early in the morning on the date of his passing.
I hope you cast your eyes over “Picasso and pigeons,” my humble article posted on this blog on March 1, 2016 about pigeons/doves, which Picasso continued drawing and painting over his entire life, from early childhood to later years.

https://kc-i.jp/en/activity/kwn/yamada_s/20160301/

Now, not only did Picasso’s masterpieces have an enormous impact on a lot of artists, but he also did a lot in the political sphere, such as using doves in messages pursuing peace. His influence has also been felt in the worlds of business and the IT industry. For example, the iPhone, iPad, and iMac computers might not exist in their present form if Picasso did not exist.



Photo 2
Photo 2 shows a series of 11 lithographs of bulls Picasso started on at the end of 1945 and took about 6 weeks to complete. In 2008, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, set up Apple University, an internal training program, and used this series of lithographs as part of the teaching materials. He used the lithographs as an illustration of his creed, “Pare away all the excess.”

By curious coincidence, this approach echoes the words of the French aviator and novelist, Saint-Exupéry: “La perfection est atteinte, non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer.” (“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”)

The August 10, 2014 Sunday edition of the New York Times carried an article titled “Simplifying the Bull: How Picasso Helps to Teach Apple’s Style.” This is how the article starts: “Apple may well be the only tech company on the planet that would dare compare itself to Picasso.”


Photo 3
Photo 3 shows how the iMac manifests this idea of simplification.

Incidentally, the National Museum of Art, Osaka is currently holding a special exhibition “Picasso and His Time: Masterpieces from Museum Berggruen / Nationalgalerie Berlin” until May 21. The exhibition offers the opportunity to see 35 works by Picasso from his early to later years, as well as works by other artists from the same period including Klee, Matisse, and Giacometti. From the perspective of paring away the excess and pursuing only the essence, I get the impression that Klee, Matisse, and Giacometti have something in common.