The Truth About Pablo Picasso
episode
Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
50 min
3 speakers
4 chapters
transcribed 2 months ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Oh, Betwixtas. Betwixty, Twixty, Twixty, Twixtas. Last year, you really pulled it out of the bag for us. The bag, pockets, wherever you are storing the it, you pulled it out from there. We won the Listener's Choice Awards at the British Podcast Awards last year. Do you remember that? Do you remember that? I certainly remember that. And I mostly remember that because none of us thought that that was ever, ever, ever going to actually happen. And it did.
And it did.
And it was so fabulous because that award came from you guys but it also helped more people find us and it helped boost the show and it just gave us top bragging rights around history hit. But what goes around comes around and the nominations are open once again and now I'm feeling the pressure because it's ours to lose, isn't it? So we are hoping upon hope that you might just help us do this again. So if you have ever smirked, giggled or even, God forbid, learnt something whilst listening to Betwixt the Sheets, then you can vote for us for the Listener's Choice Awards at this year's British Podcast Awards. It'll take 30 seconds of your entire life at the most. Just follow the link in the show notes, search for Betwixt and vote.
And please remember to click on the confirmation email that will come through afterwards. Otherwise, it won't count. And who knows? Maybe we could do it again. Maybe we could be a double winner. Wouldn't that be something? Right, on with the show. Hello, my lovely Batwixters. It's me, Kate Lister. Welcome back once again to Batwixter Sheets. Well, fancy seeing you round these parts. How fabulous you've decided to drop by once again. But before we go any further together, I do have to tell you, and I will have to keep telling you, this is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults about adult things and adult way of covering racial subjects. You should be an adult too. Right, let's get on with the show.
It is 1937, Betwixters, and we are in Gay Paris. That's right, Paris. I have managed to sneak into the back of Pablo Picasso's studio to see what he's working on. A giant canvas stretches across the wall and he's called it Guernica. Horses scream, buildings burn, and with every brushstroke, Pablo Picasso is creating what many will call the greatest anti-war painting ever made. And in the corner stands his mistress, Dora Maar, photographing it as it happens. She's his lover, his muse, and as some would argue, one of his many, many, many romantic casualties. Picasso could paint almost like nobody before or since, but he was also a bit of a prick. And that's putting it mildly. Can we admire the masterpiece and ignore the man holding the brush?
Well, that's a question as old as time, but I'm ready to try and answer it if you are.
Hello and welcome back to Betwixt the Sheets, the history of sex, scandal and society with me, Kate Lister. It's a question that's become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Can you separate the art from the artist? Picasso is one such artist who this question is rightly squared at. Yes, his work was remarkable. It absolutely was. But as you'll hear, as a man, as a human, he was problematic to say the very least. Some of the worst accusations levelled at Picasso include the alleged abuse of a 12-year-old adopted daughter, as well as his relationship with a 17-year-old Marie-Therese Walter when he was in his 40s. These instances highlight why it's so important to reappraise someone like Picasso, who is constantly lauded.
Helping us navigate and understand all of this complexity is the author and Harvard professor Suzanne Blier. Easels at the ready, everybody. Let's do this.
MUSIC
Well, hello and welcome to Betwixt the Sheets. It's only Professor Suzanne Blié.
How are you doing? I'm doing very well. It's wonderful to be here and lovely to meet you.
It's so nice to meet you. And I can't believe that the podcast has been going for three years. We haven't done an episode on Pablo Picasso yet. We've been saving him up. Now, you are professor of African and African-American studies at Harvard University, no less.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–9:00
2
What is the episode’s central question about Pablo Picasso and his legacy?
9:00–39:45
3
How did Picasso’s early life and Spanish background shape his artistic vision?
39:45–45:52
4
What role did Paris and exposure to African and medieval art play in Picasso’s development?
45:52–50:03