July Monthly Challenge

Portrait of Olga in the Armchair, 1917

Pablo Picasso

Oil on Canvas 130 × 88.8 cm

(Please note this art is copyrighted and is to be used only as inspiration.)

About the Art

This elegant portrait of his new wife, Ballets Russes dancer Olga Koklova, recalls classical Greek and Roman sculpture. The stylised twists and folds of Olga’s dress and fan are echoed in the subtle wave and sheen of her hair. Likewise, the smooth modelling and cool tones of Olga’s face, neck and arms give her flesh the appearance of marble.

In 1917 ballerina Olga Khokhlova (1891-1955) met Picasso while the artist was designing the ballet "Parade" in Rome, to be performed by the Ballet Russe.  They married in the Russian Orthodox church in Paris in 1918 and lived a life of conflict.  She was of high society and enjoyed formal events while Picasso was more bohemian in his interests and pursuits.

About the Artist

Pablo Picasso, (25 October 1881– 8 April 1973) considered one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer. He is widely known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso’s art was radical in nature; virtually no 20th-century artist could escape his influence. Moreover, while other masters tended to stay within the bounds of a style they had developed in their youth, Picasso continued to be an innovator into the last decade of his life. This led to misunderstanding and criticism both in his lifetime and since. It was only in the 1980s that his last paintings began to be appreciated both in themselves and for their profound influence on the rising generation of young painters. Since Picasso was able from the 1920s to sell works at very high prices, he could keep most of his oeuvre in his own collection. At the time of his death he owned some 50,000 works in various media from every period of his career, which passed into possession of the French state and his heirs.

Picasso’s work is often categorized into periods. While the names of many of his later periods are debated, the most commonly accepted periods in his work are the Blue Period (1901–1904), the Rose Period (1905–1907), the African-influenced Period (1908–1909), Analytic Cubism (1909–1912), and Synthetic Cubism (1912–1919).

For nearly 80 of his 91 years Picasso devoted himself to an artistic production that contributed significantly to the development of modern art in the 20th century.

Blog Tour

The Blog Tour deadline is July 29th.

Links must be added to the Art Bead Scene flickr page where you upload your entry. 

The Blog Tour will be on July 31st.

Monthly Challenge Winners

Winners will be randomly chosen from all the qualifying entries on August 1st.

Our Sponsors

Our Sponsors this month are Humblebeads and Ema K. Designs.

Please visit us tomorrow to see the prizes!

Featured Designer of the Week:

From all the entries during the month, an editor is going to pick their favorite design to be featured every Monday here on ABS. We want to give our participants more time in the spotlight! Our Featured Designer will be this Monday, so get those entries in soon.

How to enter the Monthly Challenge:

1. Create something using an art bead that fits within our monthly theme. We post the art to be used as your inspiration to create. This challenge is open to jewelry-makers, fiber artists, collage artist, etc. The art bead can be created by you or someone else. The challenge is to inspire those who use art beads and to see all the different ways art beads can be incorporated into your handiwork. 

An Art Bead must be used in your piece to qualify for the monthly challenge.

***Beads strung on a chain, by themselves and beads simply wire or cord will not be accepted.***

2. Upload your photo to our flickr group. Detailed instructions can be found here and click here for a tutorial for sending your picture to the group.

Please add the tag or title JULY ABS to your photos. Include a short description, who created the art beads and a link to your blog, if you have one.

Deadline is June 30th. Photos are approved by our moderators, if a photo hasn't followed the guidelines it will not be approved. You may upload 2 photos a day.

What is an Art Bead?

An art bead is a bead, charm, button or finding made by an independent artist. Art beads are the vision and handiwork of an individual artist. You can read more about art beads here.

***A bead that is handmade is not necessarily an art bead. Hill Tribe Silver, Kazuri ceramic beads or lampwork beads made in factories are examples of handmade beads that are not considered art beads.

Beaded beads, stamped metal pendants or wire-wrapped components are not considered art beads for our challenge.***

p.s. If you have a blog, post your entry and a link to the ABS challenge to spread the beady goodness.