Chicago Picasso

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The Chicago Picasso (often just The Picasso ) is an unmarked monumental statue by Pablo Picasso in Chicago, Illinois. The statue, dedicated on August 15, 1967, at Daley Plaza in the Chicago Loop, is 50 feet (15.2 m) tall and weighs 162 short tons (147 t). The Picasso's Cabbage Statue is the first major public artwork in Downtown Chicago, and has become a popular landmark.

It is known for its characteristics like an inviting forest. Visitors to Daley Plaza are often seen climbing and descending the base of the statue.

The statue was commissioned by architect Richard J. Daley Center in 1963. The commission was facilitated by architect William Hartmann of the Skidmore architecture firm, Owings & amp; Merrill. Picasso completed the maquette of the statue in 1965, and approved the final model of the statue in 1966. The cost of building the statue was $ 351,959.17 (equivalent to $ 2.7 million in 2018), paid for largely by three charitable foundations: the Woods Charity Fund, The Chauncey Foundation and Marion Deering McCormick, and the Illinois Field Foundation. Picasso himself was offered a $ 100,000 payment but refused, stating that he wanted to make his work a gift.

Video Chicago Picasso

History

An architect working on the Daley Center project, Richard Bennett, wrote the poem Picasso asking him to make the statue. Picasso received the remark, "You know I never received a commission to do any work, but in this case I was involved in a project for two big gangster cities" (the other being Marseille, France). Picasso refused a $ 100,000 payment, considering his work was a gift to the people of Chicago.

The statue was made by the American Bridge Company division of the United States Steel Company in Gary, Indiana using COR-TEN steel, before it was disassembled and moved to Chicago. The steel for this statue is rolled out in the USS Gary Works 160/210 plate milling, which is the largest mill in the world. Before the final steel sculpture was started, a 3.5 meter (~ 12 ft) wooden model was built for Picasso to be approved, it was finally sent to Gary Career Center. Mountain damaged at Daley Plaza for the construction of the statue on May 25, 1967.

Efforts from the City of Chicago to publish statues - staging a number of press events before the statue was completed, and featuring a maquette without a copyright notice - cited as evidence in the case of the US District Court in 1970 where the judge ruled that city action had produced a statue dedicated to the public domain.

Maps Chicago Picasso

Controversy

The statue was initially filled with controversy. Before the Picasso statue, the general sculpture artwork in Chicago was largely a historical figure. A Chicago city council member, John Hoellen, immediately suggested to replace him with a statue of Ernie Banks, and Chicago fiction and realist Algis Budrys set up a giant pickle at the proposed site. There is speculation about it, which ranges from birds, or aardvarks to Afghan Afghan Hound pets, baboon heads, or Egyptian god Anubis.

Mike Royko's newspaper columnist, who discussed the opening of the statue, wrote: "The design is interesting, I'm sure, but in reality it has a long, stupid face that looks like a giant insect that will eat smaller and weaker insects." Royko praised Picasso by understanding the soul of Chicago. "His eyes are like the eyes of every slum owner who makes money from small and weak, and every building inspector who takes a lump from a slum-dweller to make it all possible.... You'll think he'll ride L all his life."

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Inspiration

Although Picasso never explained what the statue was meant to represent, perhaps inspired by a French woman, Sylvette David, now known as Lydia Corbett, who posed for Picasso in 1954. Then 19 years and living in Vallauris, France, Corbett will accompany his girlfriend artist as he hands over a chair made of metal, wood and rope. One of the deliveries was Picasso, who was attacked by a high ponytail and a long neck. "He made a lot of his portraits, and at the time, most people thought he was drawing actress Brigitte Bardot, but in fact he was inspired by [Corbett]," said Picasso's granddaughter Olivier Widmaier Picasso to Chicago Chicago-Times. in 2004.

"I think the Chicago Statue is inspired by it," says grandson, author of Picasso, The Story of the True Family. Picasso made 40 works inspired by him, said grandchildren, including Girls That Say No , reflecting their platonic relationship. The quality of the Picasso statue inspires other artists such as Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Joan MirÃÆ'³, Claes Oldenburg and Henry Moore.

This statue is also seen as an abstract replica of the Hound Afghan dog. Picasso has a Dachshund dog, Lump, who is a former Afghan Hound dog companion owned by Picasso friend David Douglas Duncan. In the 1970s Jacqueline Picasso explained to Neil Thomas an Australian woman that it was just a Baboon baby seen from the head. "Picasso likes the way the creature changes when you see it from different angles"; it is part of the continuation of his long inspiration from Africa.

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Local culture and pop

Picasso was the venue for a press conference on 23 August 1968 where Yippies Jerry Rubin, Phil Ochs, and others were arrested after nominating a pig - Pigasus - for the president of the United States. The event was held just before the opening of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which became famous for anti-Vietnam war protests.

The statue was mentioned (and appeared) in the 1980s movie The Blues Brothers during a chase scene leading up to Richard J. Daley Center. It can also be seen briefly in the 1993 film The Fugitive, such as Harrison Ford, playing Richard Kimble, and his pursuers running across the plaza, and in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller Day Off as the men inside and under the study stood dancing to a song sung by Matthew Broderick, who played Bueller. The statue also appeared in the 1988 film Switching Channels starring Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve.

Today, Chicago Picasso has become a well-known meeting place for the citizens of Chicago. Depending on the season and time of the month, there are musical performances, farmers markets, Christkindlmarkt, and other Chicago affairs held around Picasso statues in front of Daley Plaza.

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See also

• List of public art in Chicago

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Note

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References

• Herrmann, Andrew, "Picasso City Inspiring Women", Chicago Sun-Times (November 11, 2004)
• Artner, Alan G., "Picasso Chicago Statue: The disclosure of a confusing statue changes the landscape of public art". Chicago Tribune (August 15, 1967)

Source of the article : Wikipedia