Pablo Picasso in documentary films

The universality of modern artists and contemporary art is almost inconceivable without the possibilities of dissemination by film and television. The reflection on media-transmitted artifacts and especially on the delineation of artists in mass media rises questions concerned with underlying cultural concepts dealing with the image of the artist, its transformation into popular media and its possible impact on the perception of art in a broader public. In this sense the monographic investigation of the portrayal of Pablo Picasso and his creative work serves as a case study providing methods of systematic content analysis which - taking into consideration thematic adaptions - will be appropriate for further comparable studies in this field.