As it happens, even the most influential painter of the 20th century had to find himself. Although Picasso was always an artist determined to forge his own path rather than copy the masters, he had to figure out what to call himself. He had 14 names from which to choose. There’s a wonderful moment early in the series when he decides. “Picasso,” he says with assurance. He painted with assurance. He loved with assurance. And he lived with assurance, even when broke, as he was as a young artist in Paris living among other avant-gardes.
He also moved with assurance. Banderas knowingly nods as he considers Picasso’s Minatour-like physicality. Nearly half a foot taller and leaner, and certainly far more handsome, Banderas nevertheless is a dead-ringer for Picasso in the series. To some degree that is because he spent five hours daily in the hair and makeup chair. Yet it is also because he trained himself to move like him. Banderas springs from the couch in his hotel room, where we are chatting, and assumes two poses. First, a slacker’s posture with arms across his chest, slouching. Then, rib cage thrust out, elbows akimbo, hands on hips -- a stance that dares the world to ignore him.
This is Picasso ... and that attitude shines through in this epic telling of his life and loves woven into the fabric of his times. As Picasso revolutionized art with cubism and collage, his world was torn apart. He painted Guernica for the Paris World’s Fair in 35 days, an agonized response to Franco bombing his own people. The series depicts the horrors of this battle and shows Picasso creating what is hailed as the greatest political painting ever rendered, among the reasons he is considered a genius.
“Genius was the most‑watched series launch in our network history and was recognized with 10 Emmy nominations,” Courteney Monroe, CEO of National Geographic Global Networks, said at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “Like Albert Einstein, (Picasso) imagined and interpreted the world in totally new and unorthodox ways, reinventing our perception of creativity in the process.”
Monroe has since told MediaVillage that the next genius in the anthology series will be a woman. The bar is high: whomever is selected must have had interesting friends, lived in fascinating times and, of course, changed the world. And, that person’s life must be rich enough to sustain 10 hours of fact-drenched drama.
“Obviously we dramatize moments and try to mine people’s lives,” Ken Biller, showrunner, creator, executive producer, director and writer said when MediaVillage interviewed him during a break shooting Picasso in Malta. “But we don’t make things up and we take very few liberties with history as we understand it. Often we know what figures did and what they didn’t do.”
“We know what Picasso did,” Banderas confirmed. “We know what he said, but we don’t know why. The mystery of Picasso is still a mystery.”
What is known is that Picasso created an estimated 50,000 pieces of art. He worked in all media, although he is best known for his cubist paintings. What can’t be quantified, though, is the life force he continues to emit 45 years after death.