Publisher’s Summary of The Blue Period: A Novel
A riveting novel about the tragic romance that nearly destroyed a young Pablo Picasso—while granting him his first flight of creative genius.
From rowdy Barcelona barrooms to the incandescent streets of turn-of-the-century Paris, Pablo Picasso experiences the sumptuous highs and seedy lows of bohemian life alongside his rebellious poet friend with a shadowy past, Carles Casagemas.
Fleeing family misfortune and their parents’ expectations, the two young artists seek their creative outlet while chasing inspiration in drugs, decadence, and the liberated women of Montmartre—creatures far different from the veiled ones back home.
The new life feels like bliss, and nothing can come between them…until a dark-haired, enigmatic muse enters the picture. The two artists’ passion for Germaine will lead to a devastating turn. Amid soul-searching and despair, however, Picasso discovers a color palette in which to render his demons and paint himself into lasting history.
Bringing the exuberance of the era vividly to life, this richly imagined portrait of Picasso’s coming of age intertwines the love, death, lust, and friendships that inspired the immortal works of a defiant master.
What I Thought About The Blue Period: A Novel
I recall taking an art class in college and being utterly bored. The professor went on and on about the different styles of art and what they meant. He named names and lectured on the who’s who of art. To me it was all just long dead dudes who had thrown some color on a canvas, nothing more. I’ll admit, I cannot draw even a stick figure well, but I just could not see what all the hype was about.
Reading Kummer’s The Blue Period showed me the inspiration and the person behind art in a way the dry lectures failed to do. I was captivated by Picasso’s journey, his struggles, his…well, his humanness. No longer just a who’s who to memorize for a test, through this fictional rendering of his life Picasso became real.
Fiction, especially well-researched historical fiction like Kummer’s novel, gives us such insight into the thoughts, experiences, and outcomes of those who came before us. I found reading The Blue Period altered my appreciation of Picasso’s early work. It really helped me, a person who has a hard time putting myself in an artist’s shoes, to “feel” the art and understand it as a rendering of what life was like, then. It was no longer just a painting of a man on the street. It was what a photograph of life at the time would have captured, yet more.
I had no idea how fascinating Picasso’s story would be, or how promiscuous he was! (This book definitely introduces you the seedier side of Paris and and its artists!) Kummer’s fictionalized story about Picasso’s early years inspired me to want to see his Blue Period pieces. It’s a great story about life and how our experiences shape us and shape art.
Novel Adventures to Pair with The Blue Period: A Novel
First and foremost, Paris! My biggest regret after reading The Blue Period is that I didn’t read it before my trip to Paris. Montmarte would have come to life in such a different way, had I done so. If jet setting off to Paris is not in your immediate future, take a trip to your local art museum. Perhaps you’ll find a Picasso or two there. In Philadelphia, we’re fortunate to have the Barnes Foundation with its collection of at least 15 Blue Period (and Rose Period) pieces. Before you go, check out this gallery location mapping of Picasso’s Blue Period paintings in the collection.
For those of you exploring Europe, you’ll find the largest collection of Picasso’s in Barcelona at the Museu Picasso. museupicasso.bcn.cat/en/
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Looking for more inspiration to visit other art museums? Check out one of these Books Set in a Museum. If you are an Andrew Wyeth fan, you’ll love A Piece of the World. Like The Blue Period, A Piece of the World is a fictionalized rendering of a real person. In this case, the Christina who is captured in Wyeth’s famous painting, Christina’s World.
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