The joy of life

It is clear that as Mediterraneans, as Spaniards, we are conscious that we belong to the great common axis of civilization formed by the Mediterranean. Picasso lived first in Spain, and when he came to Paris he visited the Louvre, where he beheld many antiquities, Greek and Roman, but from Egypt and elsewhere, too. Still, the dialogue with Greece had yet to begin. This would happen later, in the 1920s, with the ballets and the pleated costumes, and become obvious in the 1930s. For there were many interesting Greeks in Paris, including Zervos, and Teriade who was working for Zervos, as well as others who had become part of Parisian intellectual and artistic circles. These were mainly intellectuals, whose ideas provoked passionate debates among their peers. Moreover, this was an era in which people from all over Europe rediscovered Greece, and in which important sites were excavated. Above all else, though, Greece was seen as a model for democracy and a source of pure philosophical concepts. Because the First World War and its millions of casualties had given rise to questions about Man's nature and how mankind could possibly be so violent. That Man had to become more moderate, more thoughtful, was a subject that interested everyone, including Picasso. Since Picasso was deconstructing the history of art, it was natural for him to go back in time and find inspiration in the exemplary nature of the Greek mode of thought. He began by creating a number of academic and classical works, but then sought to find new ways to express himself, using themes from Greek mythology. Here, the Minotisur became a route to understanding: Picasso saw himself as a monster and was attracted to the Minotaur and identified with him. And so Greece became part of our daily life as a family, with more and more Greeks joining our circle. Our mother would bring us, Paloma and myself, to Greece and we would stay for months on end. Greece was like our home; it was as though we'd been born there. We felt very close to the people, we loved the Greek landscape. That land affects how you think, the way it combines harsh with beautiful is very intense... There's an intensity in how hard the wind blows, in how hard the sun beats down... All that allows you to think clearly. That's why I remain so attached to Greece.