For the first time in 60 years, Picasso’s "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust", currently the world’s most expensive painting sold at Christie’s in New York for $106 million, has gone on display at London’s Tate Modern gallery on the South Bank. It gives me a good reason to look at the horoscope of one of the most unique artists ever born.
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain on 25th October, 1881 at 23.15 hrs. He was a Sun Sign Scorpio with a Sagittarius Moon and a showy Leo Ascendant. The Scorpio Sun sits in the 4th house which is very secretive and private, the home where he would work would be an emotional place for him. The Moon sits in the 5th house of creativity and art in conjunction with the North Node. This suggests three things. Firstly a very close association with his mother, secondly an appreciation of all things female, especially the female form and thirdly this application of art and females in general was Pablo’s destiny and calling in life, the North Node always highlights the direction or achievements one should aim to fulfil in one’s life.
Sitting with the Sun in the 4th House is Mercury in Scorpio. The brain here is introspective and it encourages you to make a record of you life and experiences, this he did in physical form. Mercury in Scorpio makes the brain want to learn through emotions & experiences and bestows great manual creative ability, especially in building things like sculpture and pottery. Venus in the 3rd house in Libra is very sensitive, gives a love of colour, beauty and a love of style. There is a need to communicate about relationships and be with creative people. Paris in the early 1900’s where Picasso lived was the art capital of the world at the time and he became good friends with Matisse and other artists. Venus sextiles the Moon which reinforced the importance of style and colour in Pablo’s creations. In the 2nd house we find Uranus, the rebel planet in Virgo. Here is a need to experiment but in a very precise way, creativity combined with a carefully planned structure and a self critical attitude. Picasso would have had a reckless way with money and possessions, I dare say that he really didn’t understand the value of the work he was creating. Uranus suggests that money would be earned in an unusual or unconventional way. Mars sits in Cancer in the 12th house. The Martian energy here is directed to putting your energies to the benefit of others rather than of yourself, there is also a direct need to protect those you love or care about. Pablo would probably be irritable and difficult to live with, and would have been secretly angry if his work did not come out as he wished, sacrificing or destroying it in a fit of rage. Mars is square Venus, Pablo’s would have had many female admirers and relationships; love, romance and sex would be a subject that Picasso would be forever fascinated with. These relationships would have been stormy and beset with problems, especially as we see that Mars is also sextile Uranus; here was a restless, rebellious anger inside Picasso, full of invention and creativity but also unpredictable and individualistic.
All the planets I mentioned so far showed all the attributes Picasso had as an artist, an appreciation of women, ability as a sculptor and creator of things, a technical and critical ability, his love of colour and beauty and the creative and romantic influences around him. All these planets made aspects make to a stellium of planets in Taurus. Taurus is associated with beauty , luxury, practical form , sensual pleasure and above all making things. In Taurus in the 10th house of work, we find Pluto, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn; making art was his work. Neptune as I have said before represents art, dreams and creativity, Jupiter brings an expansive attitude and a joy and belief in his own ability, Saturn, provided a serious attitude to the work done and Pluto an intensity and a sexual and darker edge to the paintings and sculptures he created and made. The sextiles from Mars contributes an energy and verve from his work, the trines from here to Uranus in technical Virgo explain the cubist and extraordinary abstract paintings he painted, the trine to Venus his colour periods, the oppositions and quindeciles from Mercury and from the Moon showing an obsession with women and creating things with his hands. To have all these aspects in the signs they were was a very unusual occurrence, almost unique and he was for many the standout artist of the last century; we may never see a talent like Picasso for a very long time, if ever we actually do again.
Why has his painting hit the news now and is highlighted? Well looking at the Transits to his chart (Transits and Solar Arcs continue on after death), Transiting Pluto in the 1st house is trine Pablo’s Midheaven and square Mercury, one of his own (1st) hidden masterpieces (locked away for the past 60 years – Pluto) is now highlighted in public view (Midheaven) and the news is being communicated (Mercury). On the Solar Arcs, SA Jupiter is exactly to the minute conjunct Venus, there is a big (Jupiter) show of his creations (Venus) now out there for the public (Venus) to view. SA Venus is exactly square Neptune reinforcing this public interest in his art again. Amazing how these transits and progressions are still valid, relevant and illuminating well after someone passes on, isn’t it?
