The Dialogue between Picasso’s pictorial art and his plays Desire caught by the tail and The four little girls

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2025..26-37

Keywords:

Pablo Picasso, painting, dramatic text, pictorial techniques, Cubo-Surrealist principles, dramatic structure, dialogic discourse, stage directions

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between Picasso’s pictorial style and the text of his two plays Desire Caught by the Tail and The Four Little Girls. The analysis of the plot consisting of heterogeneous segments, the improbable and rather strange characters, as well as the study of the discourse texture, lead to the conclusion that the distorted vision of the world and the use of formalistic Cubo-Surrealist principles (burlesque, fragmentariness, illogicality) account for the similarities between Picasso’s paintings and theatrical works. The important role of the pictures in the semantics of the plays allots them an intermediary place between pictorial techniques and literary writing.

Author Biography

  • Dina Mantcheva, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

    Dina Mantcheva is Doctor of Letters and Professor of French literature at the Department of Romance Studies at Sofia University. She has taught courses for three semesters as Associate Professor at the Department of Theatrical Studies at the University Paris 8 and as visiting professor at Paris 3 New Sorbonne University. Professor Mantcheva has delivered lectures at a number of foreign universities, e.g. in Saarbrücken and Passau (Germany), Kalmar (Sweden), Luxembourg, Valladolid (Spain). Her research interests focus on the poetics of modernist and avant-garde Francophone and Slavic (Bulgarian, Russian, Polish) drama from Symbolism to the Theatre of the Absurd and Postmodernism.

References

Béhar, H. (1979). Le Théâtre dada et surréaliste. Gallimard.

Breton, A. (1985). Manifestes du surréalisme (Folio essais). Gallimard.

Flahutez, F. (2014). Pablo Picasso et cinquante ans de surréalisme (1916 à 1966). In L. Wolf & A. Michael (Eds.), Cahier Pablo Picasso (pp. 127–133). Herne.

Goubert, G. (2005, July 31). Pablo Picasso surréaliste en liberté (1924-1939). La Croix. Retrieved September 23, 2024, from https://www.la-croix.com/Culture/Actualite/Pablo-Picasso-surrealiste-en-liberte-NG-2005-08-01-509840.

Mathy, C. (2019, June 1). Le théâtre inédit de Pablo Picasso aux Invalides. Franceinfo. Retrieved February 5, 2025, from https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/arts-expos/pablo-picasso/le-theatre-inedit-de-pablo-picasso-aux-invalides_3470287.html

Penrose, R. (1982). Picasso. Flammarion.

Picasso, P. (1945). Le Désir attrapé par la queue. Gallimard.

Picasso, P. (1968). Les Quatre petites filles. Gallimard.

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Published

2025-10-14

Issue

Vol. 11 (2025)

Section

I. Dialogues, continuité, ouverture: le cas des littératures romanes

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How to Cite

The Dialogue between Picasso’s pictorial art and his plays Desire caught by the tail and The four little girls. (2025). Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum, 11, 26-37. https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2025..26-37