DAVID BIANCULLI

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GENIUS: "PICASSO"
April 28, 2018  | By David Bianculli

National Geographic, 10:00 p.m. ET

 

Parts 1 and 2. In case you missed the start-up of the second season of National Geographic’s very informative and entertaining biography series, the first two installments of Genius: Picasso are presented tonight, back to back. This series, like its predecessor about Albert Einstein, tracks two timelines simultaneously, with different actors playing the artist as a younger and older man. As the elder Picasso, Antonio Banderas packs all the necessary passion and commitment, regarding women, art and politics. Inspired to paint something about the encroaching rise of fascism in the late 1930s, he announces: “I’m going to need a very big canvas.” The result: the astounding, imposing anti-war masterpiece Guernica. And chapter two begins with Picasso planning and executing another anti-Nazi protest: a daring art heist, on his own house, which has just fallen under Nazi control. And in the show’s earlier time line, as the younger Picasso still reflecting established painting practices, Alex Rich matches Banderas’ artistry stroke for stroke.

 
 
 
 
 
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