Picasso and Apollinaire: The Persistence of Memory (review)

This volume is an extensively revised version of Professor Read’s earlier book, entitled Picasso et Apollinaire (1995), which was published in French. It contains much new material that will not only interest specialists but also many scholars of modern literature and art. One of the volume’s strengths is the huge amount of archival research that supports the on-going narrative. Another strength is the careful, precise and judicious manner in which the author interprets the material he has so laboriously unearthed. A leading Apollinaire scholar, Read is naturally familiar with the poet’s writings and the scholarship surrounding them. In addition, one discovers, he is equally familiar with Picasso’s work and his numerous critics. Indeed, much of the discussion draws on the poet’s manuscripts in the BNF and the artist’s notebooks in the Musée Picasso. It combines penetrating insights with exciting discoveries obtained through hard scholarly digging. To be sure, given the magnitude of the individuals involved, the project is extremely ambitious. It was undoubtedly rather intimidating as well. Rarely have two men working in the same place at the same time had such a colossal impact on the artistic and literary culture around them. It is no exaggeration to say that Picasso and Apollinaire basically invented modern aesthetics. From the very beginning, they engaged in a creative dialogue that led them to create some of their finest works. Read explores their personal and professional relationship from 1905, when they first met, until the poet’s death in 1918. Thereafter, he analyses Apollinaire’s influence on Picasso’s life and work, which continued long after his demise, and discusses drawings, paintings and sculptures that were inspired by the poet’s theories and accomplishments. The book itself is divided into three chronological sections. The initial section sheds new light on the early relationship that developed between the two men. Read demonstrates that Picasso inspired some of Apollinaire’s most impressive poetry and fiction and that the artist’s presence dominates his art criticism. Apollinaire was convinced of his friend’s genius from the very beginning and never wavered in his enthusiasm for his art. That Picasso held the same opinion of Apollinaire can be seen from the haunting self-portrait that he drew on the night the poet died (reproduced on p. 136). The second section considers Picasso’s achievements between the two wars and his plans to construct a monument for Apollinaire’s tomb in Père Lachaise cemetery. Although his efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, they led to the creation both of a pneumatic, androgynous nude figure and a number of welded metal sculptures. The final section concentrates on the years following World War II, during which art and politics vied for Picasso’s attention. Following a discussion of several paintings created during this period, the author examines the convoluted history of the bronze sculpture that Picasso created and installed in Apollinaire’s honor in Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Filled with interesting details and perceptive insights, Picasso and Apollinaire demonstrates how much the two men benefited from each other’s conversation and aesthetic experiments.