Pablo /

Pablo Picasso's turbulent early years in Paris are vividly portrayed in this engaging graphic biography. Scripter Birmant based the work largely on the memoirs of Fernande Olivier, who was the artist's lover and model for nearly a decade. The pair lived in Montmartre in Le Bateau Lavoir, a ramshackle building that served as residence and gathering place for dozens of bohemian painters and writers. Through Fernande's eyes, we follow Picasso's friendships with poet Max Jacob, writer Guillaume Apollinaire, and his great patron Gertrude Stein, as well as his rivalry with Henri Matisse and his exploration of cubism with Georges Braque. Once Picasso paints his early masterpiece Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, it becomes clear he would soon be leaving Fernande and everyone else far behind. Oubrerie, best known for drawing the Aya series, brings belle epoque Paris to vibrant life. Each member of his large cast of characters, famous and otherwise, is distinctively and expressively rendered, and the evocative settings, from expansive streetscapes to musty studios, impart a convincing verisimilitude.--Flagg, Gordon Copyright 2010 Booklist

French documentary filmmaker Birmant and artist Oubrerie (Aya of Yop City) tell the story of Picasso through the magic of memory and symbolism. The narrator/storyteller is Fernande Olivier, Picasso's muse and the subject of more than 60 of his paintings. Though Pablo is the book's title, the story is very much told from Fernande's perspective. Cursive lettering in the narrative captions symbolize Fernande's perspective and her magical-realist/symbolic view. When she remembers her "elegant, distant, fragrant" mother, we see a talking bottle of perfume; her "man of the world" and moneyed father is a disembodied top hat. Fernande's frustrations with her lot in life-being a stoic woman trapped in an abusive marriage-lead her to change her name and run off to Paris, where she encounters Picasso, his art rival Henri Matisse, and the birth of the 20th-century art world. Her story is a romance and a biography, as well as a portrait of an era reminiscent of From Hell, but told from a female perspective. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Despite the surrealist-inspired cover, this sassy romp through the history of modern art captures Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and his friends during the presurrealism years 1900-09. Birmant, a playwright, director, and producer, drew on memoirs of the artist's then-mistress Fernande Olivier, who serves as narrator. Other luminaries depicted include Gertrude Stein, Henri Matisse, Henri Rousseau, Georges Braque, Max Jacob, and Guillaume Apollinaire. Their sometimes outlandish antics enlighten and entertain on how influences, rivalries, and mistresses circulated in the bohemian hothouse of fin de siècle Paris. Oubrerie's (Aya of Yop City) loose drawing style aptly illustrates Montmartre's passion and squalor. Verdict Sardonic, informative, and sexy, this work will be appreciated most by older teens and adults acquainted with this artistic period already, since no background is provided. Other series titles include Vincent (van Gogh) and Rembrandt.-Martha Cornog, Philadelphia © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.