Art Masters: Pablo
Words by Julie Birmant
Art by Clément Oubrerie
Translated by Edward Gauvin
Paperback, 344 pp, $27.50
A prodigious talent. A passionate visionary. Pablo Picasso.
An award-winning graphic biography of one of the world's best-loved artists, Pablo follows Picasso's artistic career from his origins in penury to the advent of modern art. Taking in the artist's early life among the bohemians of Montmartre, with all of its scandal and frustration, and his turbulent relationship with his model and lover Fernande, Julie Birmant and Clément Oubrerie show how Picasso's style developed in response to his friendships and rivalries.
An entertaining and beautifully drawn account, this authoritative graphic novel explores the themes and obsessions – among them, sex, death and his great nemesis, Henri Matisse – that drove Picasso to express himself.
An award-winning graphic biography of one of the world's best-loved artists, Pablo follows Picasso's artistic career from his origins in penury to the advent of modern art. Taking in the artist's early life among the bohemians of Montmartre, with all of its scandal and frustration, and his turbulent relationship with his model and lover Fernande, Julie Birmant and Clément Oubrerie show how Picasso's style developed in response to his friendships and rivalries.
An entertaining and beautifully drawn account, this authoritative graphic novel explores the themes and obsessions – among them, sex, death and his great nemesis, Henri Matisse – that drove Picasso to express himself.
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Julie Birmant
Julie Birmant is a writer and filmmaker. She has made documentaries on popular science for the RTBF (Radio Television Belge Francophone) and co-edited a number of issues of the Journal of Alternative Theatre. She writes plays and produces documentaries for France-Culture. Birmant lives in Paris, France.
Clément Oubrerie
Clement Oubrerie is a French artist. Born in Paris in 1966, he has illustrated over 40 books. He studied graphic arts at the ESAG before spending two years in the US, where he published his first children's books. His first graphic novel, Aya of Yop City, was published in 2005. Aya won the First Book Award at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the Children's Africana Book Award and the Glyph Award. It was also nominated for the Quill Award, the YALSA Great Graphic Novels list and the Eisner Award, as well as making best-of lists in The Washington Post, Booklist, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.
Reviews
"Oubrerie's quasi-cinematic mise en scène is a delight, with changing 'camera' angles, switches from intimate detail to wider perspectives, the superb rendition of mood through light changes and impressive character studies."
— Morning Star
"Sardonic, informative and sexy."
— Library Journal
"Every frame is full of colour; every speech bubble crackles with life. You can almost smell the tobacco, the fish soup, the turpentine."
— The Observer