HOMAGE TO PICASSO:
HORTA REVISITED
An artist's journey to HORTA de San Juan, Spain
The Challenge
Following in Picasso's footsteps
Experimenting with layered translucent images and anamorphic distortions, Krajnc also elaborated on some of the Cubist ideas. A sentence in the MOMA catalogue of a Picasso retrospective reawakened his wish to go to Spain.
The catalogue states:
'"Houses on the Hill, Horta de Ebro", "Factory at Horta de Ebro" and "The reservoir, Horta" constitute Picasso's first fully defined statements of Analytic Cubism, marked by reverse perspective, bas relief, modeling and consistent passage.'
"To my disappointment, I could not see what the critics read into these works. Neither reverse perspective, nor consistent passage. But how could I challenge Picasso? One does not shake a monument."
"And anyway, what he had actually said about Cubism was much more revealing than what the critics wrote:" it's not a reality you can take in your hand. It's more like perfume... the scent is everywhere, but you don't quite know where it comes from."
There is a teasing, delicate balance between abstraction and representation that imparts to Cubism its special flavor - or scent...
" My decision to visit Horta had as much to do with plain curiosity (what would I find?) as with the project to paint there, produce works that would contain all those "analytic cubist" identification marks, which I found lacking in Picasso's views of the town. I was going for inspiration and answers: was it Horta that brought out Cubism in Picasso? Or had he come with a ready concept that could have been put on canvas in any town on a hill - in Italy, in Spain, in Greece?"
Work in progress: KRAJNC and the view from "Picasso's window", 1989
During his own stay of several weeks, Krajnc worked on location in many different spots, looking out over the village from high atop its hill, painting 360-degree views, standing where Picasso had stood to take a photograph he would later give to Gertrude Stein...
The reservoir exists no more. It has been paved over, made into a pretty plaza with a fountain, ringed by trees. In the course of his research, talking to longtime residents, asking many questions, Krajnc met a lady whose parents had permitted Picasso to paint from a window of their house. Project Horta takes shape!
Krajnc was invited to sit at the very same window, overlooking the Plaza. Working from early morning to late evening, he caught the effect of the shifting shadows on the cluster of houses in the brilliantly harsh summer sun. Maybe it HAD BEEN THE PLACE, after all, that dictated the Cubist approach?
'PORTRAIT OF HORTA', three oils/canvas
In the triptych "Portrait of Horta", Krajnc links the Plaza that today hides the reservoir, to a sweeping view from Mount Santa Barbara in the North-East all around the village, aligning the landscapes, each at its own time of day - and finishes with his rendering of Picasso's "Reservoir, Horta".
The supporting works in the suite of 24 paintings, watercolours and drawings that now comprise "PROJECT HORTA", include neo-Cubist views of the village and "HORTA HORTA" , an anamorphic fusion of Picasso's version with Krajnc' own.
HORTA HORTA, oil/canvas
The works were completed in the artist's summer place near Salzburg, Austria, and shown at several private receptions. They are now in the United States and, together with sketches and photographs of Horta today, they are available for exhibitions. Please contact the artist via email: ak-studio@flash.net, if you are interested.
Cubism today?
a short evaluation, by Krajnc
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Last modified: May 23, 2004
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