Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"Picasso's Promenade" by Jacques Prevert is a complex exploration of the relationships among reality, representation, and artistic creation. The poem engages with the continual tension between a painter attempting to capture the "real" essence of an apple, and the apple itself, which refuses to be reduced to a mere object of visual reproduction. What follows is a rich interplay of ideas, history, and philosophical inquiry, culminating in a humorous but thought-provoking encounter with Picasso, the revolutionary artist who saw reality in ways most of us could scarcely imagine.

The poem begins with a seemingly simple tableau: an apple on a porcelain plate and a painter intent on painting it "as it is." However, the apple, anthropomorphized by Prevert, resists the painter's efforts. It has its "word to say about it" and turns "artfully on itself," as if refusing to be a passive subject. The apple's mutiny serves as a metaphor for the challenges inherent in artistic representation; how can one ever capture the fullness of an object, much less a person or an idea? Reality, according to the apple, is not so easily constrained.

Just as the painter begins to realize the futility of his endeavor, he becomes lost in a whirlwind of associations that the apple's image evokes-biblical stories, historical figures, scientific theories, and more. The painter becomes "the sad prey" of these associations, illustrating how subjective experiences and pre-existing narratives can hijack the artistic process. It is a brilliant commentary on the interconnectedness of all things, as well as a cautionary tale about the pitfalls that artists might face when they engage with their subjects.

Enter Picasso, the game-changer in art history who deconstructed the familiar and made viewers see it anew. His cameo is comic yet telling. He eats the apple, thanking it as though acknowledging its contribution to the world, breaks the plate to signify perhaps the breaking of traditional artistic boundaries, and walks away, leaving the painter to confront the "terrifying pips of reality." It's not just a clever turn of events; it's Prevert's way of suggesting that art should be an interaction with reality that goes beyond mere replication. Picasso becomes a symbol of an artist who is not confined by the limits of reality, who engages with it on his terms and transforms it in the process.

In essence, "Picasso's Promenade" is a tale of two artists: one confined by his literal-minded approach to reality, and another who understands that to grasp the essence of reality, one must be willing to look beyond it. The painter is left with his "unfinished canvas" and broken pieces of plate, but these "terrifying pips of reality" are a reminder of the elusive nature of truth in art. Reality is not just what is visible to the eye; it also comprises layers of meaning, personal and universal narratives, and the intricate web of existence that no canvas can capture but that artists must still strive to represent.

The poem, therefore, serves as a complex critique on the nature of art and reality, effectively using humor, narrative, and deep philosophical underpinnings to engage the reader in a dialogue that transcends the simple act of painting an apple. It's an affirmation of the transformative power of art, a nod to the artists who dare to envision a different reality, and a gentle nudge to those who allow convention to limit their creative scope.

POEM TEXT:

On a very round plate of real porcelain

an apple poses

face to face with it

a painter of reality

vainly tries to paint

the apple as it is

but

the apple won't allow it

the apple

it has its word to say about it

and several tricks in its bag of apples

and there it is turning

on its real plate

artfully on itself

blandly without budging

and like a Duc de Guise who disguises himself as a gas duct

because they want to draw his portrait against his will

the apple disguises itself as a beautiful fruit in disguise

and it's then

that the painter of reality

begins to realize

that all the appearances of the apple are against him

and

like the unfortunate pauper

like the poor pauper who finds himself suddenly at the mercy

of no matter what benevolent and charitable and redoubtable

association of benevolence charity and redoubtability

the unfortunate painter of reality

then suddenly finds himself the sad prey

of a numberless crowd of associations of ideas

And the apple turning evokes the apple tree

the earthly Paradise and Eve and then Adam

a watering-can a trellis Parmentier a stairway

Canadian Hesperidian Norman apples Reinette apples and Appian apples

the serpent of the Tennis Court and the Oath of Apple Juice

and original sin

and the origins of art

and Switzerland with William Tell

and even Isaac Newton

several times prizewinner at the Exhibition of Universal Gravitation

and the dazed painter loses sight of his model

and falls asleep

It's just then that Picasso

who's going by there as he goes by everywhere

every day as if at home

sees the apple and the plate and the painter fallen asleep

What an idea to paint an apple

says Picasso

and Picasso eats the apple

and the apple tells him Thanks

and Picasso breaks the plate

and goes off smiling

and the painter drawn from his dreams

like a tooth

finds himself all alone again before his unfinished canvas

with right in the midst of his shattered china

the terrifying pips of reality.

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