The Abduction of Sabines 1963

Curator: Here we have Picasso's 1963 painting, "The Abduction of the Sabines," currently residing here at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Painted in oil, it offers quite a stark depiction. Editor: Gosh, it hits you right away, doesn't it? All angles and primal screams rendered in such raw strokes. There is something unsettlingly magnetic about this distorted chaos. Curator: It is a work deeply engaged with its own moment of production. The painting revisits and reimagines a classical subject—the Roman abduction of the Sabine women— filtered through Picasso’s distinctive Cubist language, of course. One cannot separate the painting from Picasso's exploration of the political unrest and societal upheavals happening in the 60’s, or the consumption of these events by media outlets. Editor: Consumption…yes, these fractured forms. I think, the violence, is it being taken in, re-digested, spewed back out, not only within the subject being presented, but the painting itself acting as the vehicle of expression? Curator: Precisely. This artwork really demonstrates the period's grappling with the accessibility, both material and social, and what consumption does to narrative and image creation. Editor: And there is something very visceral about the material reality of the paint itself, heavy and bold, mirroring the heavy, violent themes present here. The raw energy transferred into the oil paint reminds me a lot of raw materials that end up produced, shipped off, and capitalized on. There are bodies underneath. Curator: Indeed, if we look closely, Picasso even leaves certain under layers revealed. One could say, much like war, there are parts of a larger story here. The layers we don't often see are presented, and become integral to the subject itself. Editor: It’s like, each colour yells out about destruction. But amidst all this horror, and chaos there is life. Like, I look at those horses in their black and white abstraction, still carrying the riders. The message of history continues to find a way. Curator: A fine conclusion. "The Abduction of the Sabines" indeed challenges viewers to face a troubling history through a distorted, and undeniably captivating lens. Editor: Thanks, my eyes are more open to the way the past can crash and echo in a modern frame, so to speak.