22 pages • 44 minutes read
If I Told Him, A Completed Portrait of Picasso
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Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
"Picasso" by Gertrude Stein (1909)
“If I Told Him” is the second of two literary portraits of Picasso that Stein attempted. “Picasso,” Stein’s first attempt published in 1909, uses many of the same techniques as Stein’s later literary portrait of the painter. Both poems, for instance, rely on the repetition (with minor variation) of whole phrases. This earlier portrait lacks some of the symbolic depth of “If I Told Him,” and places less emphasis on particular words. “Picasso” also lacks conventional line breaks and is structured in prose paragraphs rather than in poetic stanzas.
“In a Station of the Metro” by Ezra Pound (1913)
Stein is not the only Modernist poet who attempts to capture the entirety of their subject using abstract impressions rather than linear sentences. Ezra Pound, occasional attendee of Stein’s Paris salons, was one of the major forces behind Imagism, a literary movement with similar aims and influences. Like Stein, Pound relies on a series of impressions rather linear narratives. Unlike Stein, however, Pound uses precise imagery to communicate his subjects. “In a Station of the Metro” is one of Pound’s most famous and successful Imagist poems.
“Objects” by Gertrude Stein (1914)
“Objects” is the first section of Stein’s 1914 poetry collection Tender Buttons. The book, among Stein’s best-known, caused a sensation when it was published. The book has been criticized as nonsense or a literary hoax. Despite these criticisms, Stein insisted that the book was a realistic portrayal of its subjects. Tender Buttons now stands as an essential work of Modernist literature. Its first poem, "A Carafe, That Is a Blind Glass,” is a strong example of Stein’s emphasis on visual imagery during this period of her writing.
“Birds in Snow” by H. D. (1928)
Hilda Doolittle, using the pen name H. D., was one of the founders of Imagism alongside her friend Ezra Pound. The 1910s and 1920s saw an explosion of literary forms and experiments. As the Modernist movement grew and matured, it adopted many traditional aspects of poetry. H. D.’s “Birds in Snow” is a representative example of what other Modernists were writing around the time Stein wrote and published “If I Told Him.”
Further Literary Resources
“Picasso’s Portrait of Gertrude Stein” by The Editors of Poets.Org (2005)
One of the major fixtures of Stein’s Paris apartment was the portrait that Pablo Picasso painted of her in 1905, shortly after he began attending her salons. The portrait was painted during Picasso’s Rose Period, prior to many of the Cubist experiments that later influenced Stein. Picasso’s portrait of her, however, marks the origin of Stein’s obsession with the ability of art to capture resemblances. This brief article showcases the portrait in question and draws parallels between the two artists’ work.
“Gertrude Stein vs. William Carlos Williams” by Carol Dorf (2011)
Gertrude Stein is a highly irregular writer, but her mission was one shared by many Modernist poets. This article, by Carol Dorf, performs a comparative reading between Stein and American poet William Carlos Williams. Dorf details how both poets tried to create works inspired by spoken language, and how they both wanted to focus on things rather than ideas. Through Williams’s more accessible poetry, Dorf helps to bridge the gap between Stein’s meaning and the reader’s expectation.
“Analytic Cubism” by The Editors of The Art Story (2021)
Cubism, the Modernist art movement that influenced Stein above all others, had three distinct phases. In this article, the editors of The Art Story outline Analytic Cubism, the most abstract and recognizable phase of the movement. The article provides a number of Cubist examples from Picasso, Jean Gris, and other artists to give a sense of the movement and its major players.
Listen to Poem
In this clip, Gertrude Stein provides a hypnotic and precise reading of her own work. Her articulation gives a sense of the work’s intended spoken rhythm and how the emphasis of words change with minor differences. Though the poem focuses on visual resemblances and makes intentional use of the page’s white space, its particular sonic qualities are an essential part of its power.
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By Gertrude Stein
