The Chicago Picasso (often just ''The Picasso'') is an untitled
monumental sculpture
The term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for ...
by
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
in
Daley Plaza
The Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its open courtyard Daley Plaza and named after longtime mayor Richard J. Daley, is the premier civic center of the City of Chicago in Illinois. The Center's modernist skyscraper primarily houses of ...
in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
. ''The Picasso'' "precipitated an aesthetic shift in civic and urban planning, broadening the idea of
public art
Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
beyond the commemorative."
The
COR-TEN
Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys which were developed to eliminate the need for painting, and form a stable rus ...
steel sculpture, dedicated on August 15, 1967, in the civic plaza in the
Chicago Loop
The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...
, is tall and weighs .
[1967 August 15--Picasso Statue Unveiled In Civic Center Plaza.]
Chicago Public Library (URL accessed 14 August 2005). The
Cubist sculpture
Cubist sculpture developed in parallel with Cubism, Cubist painting, beginning in Paris around 1909 with its Proto-Cubism, proto-Cubist phase, and evolving through the early 1920s. Just as Cubist painting, Cubist sculpture is rooted in Paul Cézan ...
by Picasso was the first such major public artwork in Downtown Chicago, and has become a well-known landmark. Publicly accessible, it is known for its inviting
jungle gym
A jungle gym (called a climbing frame in British English) is a piece of playground equipment made of many pieces of material, such as metal pipes or ropes, on which participants can climb, hang, sit, and—in some configurations—slide. Monkey ...
-like characteristics.
Visitors to Daley Plaza can often be seen climbing on and sliding down the base of the sculpture.
The sculpture was commissioned by the architects of the
Richard J. Daley Center
The Richard J. Daley Center, also known by its open courtyard Daley Plaza and named after longtime mayor Richard J. Daley, is the premier civic center of the City of Chicago in Illinois. The Center's modernist skyscraper primarily houses of ...
in 1963. The commission was facilitated by the architect William Hartmann of the architectural firm of
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel A. Owings, Nathaniel Owings in Chicago, Illinois. In 1939, they were joined by engineer Jo ...
.
Picasso completed a
maquette
A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
of the sculpture in 1965, and approved a final model of the sculpture in 1966. The cost of constructing the sculpture was $351,959.17 (equivalent to $3.2 million in 2022), paid mostly by three charitable foundations: the Woods Charitable Fund, the Chauncey and Marion Deering McCormick Foundation, and the Field Foundation of Illinois. Picasso himself was offered payment of $100,000 but refused, stating that he wanted to make his work a gift.
['' The Letter Edged in Black Press, Inc. v. Public Building Commission of Chicago'' 320 F. Supp. 1303 (1970)]
History
![Richard_J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Richard_J._Daley_Plaza.jpg)
An architect who worked on the Daley Center project, Richard Bennett, wrote Picasso a poem asking him to make the sculpture. Picasso accepted saying "You know I never accept commissions to do any sort of work, but in this case I am involved in projects for the two great gangster cities" (the other being
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
, France).
The sculpture was fabricated by the
American Bridge Company
The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitts ...
division of the
United States Steel Corporation
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
in
Gary, Indiana
Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...
using COR-TEN steel, before being disassembled and relocated to Chicago.
The steel for this statue was rolled in the USS Gary Works 160/210" plate mill, then the largest rolling mill of its kind in the world. Before fabrication of the final steel sculpture was started, a 3.5 meter (~12 feet) tall wooden model was constructed for Picasso to approve; this was eventually sent to the
Gary Career Center. Ground was broken in Daley Plaza for the construction of the sculpture on May 25, 1967.
The efforts of the City of Chicago to publicize the sculpture — staging a number of press events before the sculpture was completed, and displaying the
maquette
A ''maquette'' (French word for scale model, sometimes referred to by the Italian names ''plastico'' or ''modello'') is a scale model or rough draft of an unfinished sculpture. An equivalent term is ''bozzetto'', from the Italian word for "sketc ...
without a
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
notice — were cited as evidence in a 1970 U.S. District Court case where the judge ruled that the city's actions had resulted in the sculpture being dedicated to the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
.
Controversy
The sculpture was initially met with controversy. Before the Picasso sculpture, public sculptural artwork in Chicago was mainly of historical figures.
One derisive
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...
alderman
An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...
,
John Hoellen
John James Hoellen Jr. (September 24, 1914–January 30, 1999) was an American politician who served as alderman of Chicago's 47th ward from 1947 to 1975. His father, John J. Hoellen Sr., had served as alderman of that same ward from 1925 to ...
, immediately proposed replacing it with a statue of
Ernie Banks
Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...
, and
publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...
Algis Budrys
Algirdas Jonas "Algis" Budrys (January 9, 1931 – June 9, 2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He was also known under the pen names Frank Mason, Alger Rome (in collaboration with Jerome Bixby), John ...
erected a giant
pickle on the proposed site for his client, Pickle Packers International.
There was speculation on the subject, which has ranged from a
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
, or
aardvark
The aardvark ( ; ''Orycteropus afer'') is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa. It is the only living species of the order Tubulidentata, although other prehistoric species and genera of Tubulidentata are known. Unlike ...
to Picasso's pet
Afghan Hound
The Afghan Hound is a hound that is distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat and its tail with a ring curl at the end. The breed is selectively bred for its unique features in the cold mountains of Afghanistan. Its local name is ( ps, تاژ ...
, a
baboon
Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ba ...
head, the Egyptian deity
Anubis
Anubis (; grc, Ἄνουβις), also known as Inpu, Inpw, Jnpw, or Anpu in Ancient Egyptian () is the god of death, mummification, embalming, the afterlife, cemeteries, tombs, and the Underworld, in ancient Egyptian religion, usually depict ...
, or
Sylvette David
Lydia Corbett (born Sylvette David, 14 November 1934) is a French artist and former artist's model known for being "the girl with the ponytail" in Pablo Picasso's ''Sylvette'' series of paintings and a 1970 sculpture.
Early life
Corbett wa ...
, one of his models.
Newspaper columnist
Mike Royko, covering the unveiling of the sculpture, wrote: "Interesting design, I'm sure. But the fact is, it has a long stupid face and looks like some giant insect that is about to eat a smaller, weaker insect." Royko did credit Picasso with understanding the soul of Chicago. "Its eyes are like the eyes of every
slum owner who made a buck off the small and weak. And of every building inspector who took a wad from a slum owner to make it all possible. ... You'd think he'd been riding
the L
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
all his life."
Inspiration
At a reception for the unveiling of a large piece of public sculpture commissioned by a New York University, Picasso told
Stanley Coren
Stanley Coren (born 1942) is a psychology professor, neuropsychological researcher and writer on the intelligence, mental abilities and history of dogs. He works in research and instructs in psychology at the University of British Columbia in Va ...
that the head of the sculpture is an abstract representation of his
Afghan Hound
The Afghan Hound is a hound that is distinguished by its thick, fine, silky coat and its tail with a ring curl at the end. The breed is selectively bred for its unique features in the cold mountains of Afghanistan. Its local name is ( ps, تاژ ...
named Kabul.
[ Coren, Stanley]
"Muse and mascot: the artist's life-long love affair with his canine companions"
''Modern Dog
Modern Dog ( th, โมเดิร์นด็อก) is a Thai rock band, formed in 1992. They issued their first album in 1994, selling 500,000 copies. The band has issued five studio albums, selling a total of 2 million copies.
The band's ...
''. Archived fro
the original.
/ref>
Some have speculated it may have been inspired by a French woman, Sylvette David
Lydia Corbett (born Sylvette David, 14 November 1934) is a French artist and former artist's model known for being "the girl with the ponytail" in Pablo Picasso's ''Sylvette'' series of paintings and a 1970 sculpture.
Early life
Corbett wa ...
, now known as Lydia Corbett, who posed for Picasso in 1954. Then 19 years old and living in Vallauris, France, Corbett would accompany her artist boyfriend as he delivered chairs made of metal, wood and rope. One of those deliveries was to Picasso, who was struck by her high ponytail and long neck. "He made many portraits of her. At the time, most people thought he was drawing the actress Brigitte Bardot
Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
. But in fact, he was inspired by orbett, Picasso's grandson Olivier Widmaier Picasso told the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' in 2004.
"I think the Chicago Sculpture was inspired by her", said the grandson, author of ''Picasso, the Real Family Story''. Picasso made 40 works inspired by her, said the grandson, including ''The Girl Who Said No'', reflecting their platonic relationship
Platonic love (often lowercased as platonic love) is a type of love in which sexual desire or romantic features are nonexistent or has been suppressed or sublimated, but it means more than simple friendship.
The term is derived from the nam ...
. The quality of the Picasso sculpture inspired other artists such as Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and his ...
, Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...
, Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...
, Claes Oldenburg
Claes Oldenburg (January 28, 1929 – July 18, 2022) was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture versions ...
and Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
.
In the 1970s Jacqueline Picasso explained to Neil Thomas, an Australian lady, it was simply a male baboon viewed from head-on. "Picasso loved the way the creature changed as you viewed it from different angles"; it was part of a continuation of his lifelong inspiration from Africa.
There was an ongoing dialogue between Picasso's sculpture and his painting. A further possible influence could lie in his portraits of Jacqueline herself, made in the early 1960s, specifically ''Bust of a Woman (Jacqueline)'' from May 1962 (Zervos XX, 243, Private Collection). The historian Patricia Stratton has made a convincing case for Jacqueline Roque Picasso as the model for the Chicago sculpture.[Stratton, Patricia S., "The Chicago Picasso: A Point of Departure (Chicago: Ampersand, Inc., 2017).]
Local and pop culture
The Picasso was the site of an August 23, 1968, press conference in which Yippies
The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded on De ...
Jerry Rubin
Jerry Clyde Rubin (July 14, 1938 – November 28, 1994) was an American social activist, anti-war leader, and counterculture icon during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman. He is known for being one of the ...
, Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs (; December 19, 1940 – April 9, 1976) was an American songwriter and protest singer (or, as he preferred, a topical singer). Ochs was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, political activism, often alliterative lyrics, and ...
, and others were arrested after nominating a pig — Pigasus — for president of the United States. This event was held days before the opening of the 1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Earlier that year incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had announced he would not seek reelection, thus making ...
, which became known for its anti-Vietnam war protests.[ Mailer, Norman. ''Miami and the Siege of Chicago: An Informal History of the Republican and Democratic Conventions of 1968''. New York: New American Library, 1968.]
The sculpture was mentioned (and appears) in the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedians Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on ''Saturday Night Live''. Belushi and Aykroyd fronted the band, in character, respective ...
'' during the chase scene leading to the Richard J. Daley Center. It can also be seen briefly in the 1993 film '' The Fugitive'', as Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
, playing Richard Kimble
''The Fugitive'' is an American crime drama television series created by Roy Huggins and produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television. It aired on ABC from September 1963 to August 1967. David Janssen starred as Dr.&nbs ...
, and his pursuers run across the plaza, and in the 1986 film ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off
''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes and co-produced by Tom Jacobson. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck with supporting roles by Jennifer Grey ...
'' as people in and under a reviewing stand dance to a song sung by Matthew Broderick
Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...
, who plays Bueller. The sculpture also makes an appearance in the 1988 film ''Switching Channels
''Switching Channels'' is a 1988 American comedy film remake of the 1928 play ''The Front Page'', the 1931 film of the same name, and the 1940 film ''His Girl Friday''. It stars Kathleen Turner as Christy Colleran, Burt Reynolds as John L. Sull ...
'' starring Kathleen Turner, Burt Reynolds and Christopher Reeve.
Today, the Chicago Picasso has become a well-known meeting spot for Chicagoans. Depending on the season and time of the month, there are musical performances, farmers' markets, a Christkindlmarkt
A Christmas market, also known as ''Christkindlmarkt'' (literally: ''Christ Child Market'', but the term "Christkind" usually refers to an angel-like "spirit of Christmas" rather than literally the Christ Child), ''Christkindlesmarkt'', ''Chris ...
, and other Chicago affairs which are held around the Picasso statue in front of Daley Plaza.
See also
* List of public art in Chicago
The city of Chicago, Illinois, is home to many notable works of public art on permanent display in an outdoor public space.
References
External links
*
{{Public art in the United States
Art, Public
Chicag ...
Notes
References
*Herrmann, Andrew, "The Woman Who Inspired City's Picasso", ''Chicago Sun-Times'' (Nov. 11, 2004)
*Artner, Alan G.,
Chicago's Picasso sculpture: The unveiling of the puzzling sculpture changes the public art landscape
. ''Chicago Tribune'' (Aug. 15, 1967)
*Stratton, Patricia S. "The Chicago Picasso: A Point of Departure" (Chicago: Ampersand Inc., 2017).
{{Public art in Chicago
Buildings and structures in Chicago
Landmarks in Chicago
Outdoor sculptures in Chicago
1967 sculptures
Sculptures by Pablo Picasso
Steel sculptures in Illinois
Weathering steel