In a field near Verona, Italian artist Dario Gambarin used a tractor to imitate the self-portrait of the Spanish painter and sculptor Pablo Picasso from 1907. One of the most influential and famous painters of the 20th century, called the father of cubism, died fifty years ago, on April 8, 1973, at the age of 91 in southern France Mougins.
A figure representing Picasso’s self-portrait can be seen in Castagnaro in the province of Verona. According to Gambarino, who has in the past created similar paintings of celebrities in a field in northern Italy, this is the largest portrait of a Spanish artist in the world.
In November 2013, Gambarin created a painting of US President John F. Kennedy on the 50th anniversary of his death in a field in Castagnaro. That same year, he used a tractor with a plow and harrows to create an image of Pope Francis on a 25,000 square meter field. He decided to dig up the artwork in his parents’ field after the head of the Catholic Church announced a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria.
Before the 2016 US presidential election, Gambarin used his tractor to turn a field into a portrait of Donald Trump and wrote “Ciao” under Trump’s left shoulder. “In Italy, we say ‘ciao’ to say hello or goodbye,” Gambarin told the Inside Edition website. “I say ‘hello’ if he becomes president and goodbye if he doesn’t,” he added at the time. He also created a similar portrait of Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton.
Pablo Picasso is estimated to have created almost 50,000 works during his lifetime, including 1,885 paintings, 1,228 sculptures, 7,089 drawings, 342 tapestries, 150 sketchbooks and 30,000 graphics. Among his best-known works are the cubist Girls of Avignon (1907) and the anti-war painting Guernica (1937).
