黑料不打烊

Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra鈥檚 recent film Ruth Drawing Picasso, Tate Liverpool (2009) brings to light the artist鈥檚 uncanny ability of capturing the nuances of human behavior on film. Characteristic of her larger body of photographic work to date, Dijkstra鈥檚 film focuses on a single subject鈥攁 young school girl seated in a gallery at the Tate Museum in Liverpool, England. The artist observes the adolescent subject studying the vivid imagery of a dramatic 1937 painting, Weeping Woman by Pablo Picasso, which shows Dora Maar, Picasso鈥檚 mistress at the time, in a state of extreme emotional distress. As we witness Ruth intensely absorbing Picasso鈥檚 uncompromising portrait of Maar, we become aware of her increasing engagement in the act of looking鈥攏ot only in order to 鈥済et it right鈥� as she attempts to sketch the image, but taking what she sees and making it her own. Dijkstra鈥檚 film involves us in a dialogue about the act of observation as well as artistic inspiration and creativity.

Although Picasso鈥檚 Weeping Woman is never actually revealed to the viewer of Dijkstra鈥檚 film, you can experience a similar and equally emotive painting from 1937 of Dora Maar weeping in Picasso: Masterpieces from the Mus茅e National Picasso, Paris, a special exhibition on the Fourth Floor until January 17, 2011.