Things I learned from Paul Rand: 27 – Picasso
To designers (especially the seasoned ones), Paul Rand is our hero. But who was Paul Rand’s hero?
Pablo Picasso
Picasso was most definitely one of Paul Rand’s all-time heroes. I remember Paul often reflecting on how Picasso could literally do anything and everything better than any other artist. It reminded me a little bit of how basketball fans would gush about Michael Jordan, or how music fans can go on and on about The Beatles.
Paul always plastered his walls with tools, reference files, and images he found inspiring. Picassos were mainstays, like you can see above with a reproduction of The Three Dancers, as well as a photo of Picasso in his signature striped shirt.
Picasso Quotes
Paul also used Picasso’s quotes in his writings, including page 3 of Design Form and Chaos:
“‘Roosters,’ said Picasso in 1944, ‘have always been seen, but seldom seen so well as in American weathervanes.'”
While Paul mainly attributed the weathervane image below to the weathervane-maker’s acute sensitivity to form, I think this is also speaking about the power of abstraction, how simpler forms are often easier for people to recognize. Paul also created a great rooster design with just few cutout papers. People, even many designers, often forget how viewers have the ability to fill in the blank, and see things that aren’t physically there.
Which one of the roosters below look the most rooster-ish to you?
Picasso Drawings
There is a very informative article on Cooper Hewitt’s website by Jeremy Witten, about one example where Paul Rand probably borrowed from Picasso. The illustration he created for Igor Stravinsky’s book cover is unmistakably reminiscent of Picasso’s sketch from 1920. A nice homage, I would say, with an added layer of using graphic dots over a blank sheet music, perhaps symbolizing music notes.
Paul Rand had a number of artists he looked up to: Paul Klee, El Lissitzky, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Jan Tschichold, and Henri Matisse, to name a few. You can see their influence in his work. But Picasso was safely one of his top favorite.