It’s easily overlooked that Picasso was not merely a painter.
You can include sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, writer, poet and playwright to his considerable repertoire.
Even what he is best known for, Cubism, is like an attempt to solidify a two dimensional form.
With a Leo ascendant, there is a powerfully creative approach to life.
His ruler, the Sun, in Scorpio in house 4, anchors him deeply in the fathoms of psychology and in the ancestry, symbols and mythology of his and the collective genetic past.
Appreciation of beauty
So much has of course, rightly, been made of this. But he also has Venus in Libra in house 3.
Here is an appreciation of beauty (and women) and a need to express it verbally and through written form: writing and poetry.
This Venus is in a loose sextile to a house 5 Moon in Sagittarius, giving him wider creative expression for this trait.
Then there’s Mars, his sun ruler, in Cancer in house 12. Here is the emotive energy which can erupt from the subconscious through creativity, aided by the sextile to inspirational Neptune in Taurus in house 10.
Constructive transformation
But it’s his Taurus house 10 which is most interesting.
Here we have Saturn and Neptune in a loose conjunction, with Jupiter and Pluto doing the same later in the sign, opposed to Mercury in house 4.
Here is the purpose of strong physicality, the constructive approach, the need to transcend it, expand it and ultimately transform it into something else, the latter examined and inspected deeply, with great intensity.
Hilaire Belloc was a notable Anglo-French writer who died in 1953.
A Sagittarian ascendant befits his stradling of two distinct European cultures and a man of wide interests.
His ruler Jupiter in Gemini in house 7, shows his multi-faceted approach, eclectic relationships (he married an American) and variable writing topics; he wrote books for children, about travel, plays, essays and books on mainly history and traditional issues.
Saturn in his first house (in a loose opposition to Jupiter in house 7) could symbolise his generally conservative outlook. Saturn trine Neptune in house 5 hints at the idealism which he attached to his conservatism, expressing it creatively.
Wide interests
His Sun is conjunct Mercury (house 10 ruler) in Leo in house 9. Here is a powerful and creative individual with a strong interest in philosophy, extensive travel and foreign culture. This was always likely to be part of the basis of his life direction and career.
Belloc’s traditional stance is also very much emboldened by his full house 8.
The Moon conjunct Uranus in Cancer in this house reveals an emotional and somewhat unique attachment to deeper issues of life and culture. He was an ardent Catholic and traditionalist who hated to see old lifestyles disappear.
More than this, his Venus (MC ruler) conjunct Mars in Cancer in this house too, shows an ardent love of home, family and traditional values, the energy he put into getting back to their roots, and in trying to preserve and regenerate them. This too, became part and parcel of what he stood for.
Often considered one of the three great ladies of impressionism, Berthe Morisot’s works were described as exuding much feminine charm.
Born to a wealthy family, her early style was said to be ‘effleurer’, or of a light touch, though her palette was usually quite restrained in the use of colour.
She had three major periods in her work, watercolour, pastel, and then oil painting, though at times she was not averse to mixing all three mediums together. Even during her lifetime she was considered one of the best impressionists and still has a high reputation today.
Responsive love of balance
What can we see from her chart?
She has Cancer rising, making the Moon her ruler, which is in Libra conjunct Mars in house 4.
She seems to have had very strong feelings, and could probably argue well. The Moon in Libra loves balance and harmony and this is invigorated by the Martian energy. She was clearly very responsive. Mars is also the ruler of house 10 of career and house 5 of creativity, all indicative of an energetic and creative career.
A spur to achievement
Her Capricorn Sun in house 7 along with Mercury, gives her the ability to graft and study seriously, but clearly her marriage to Manet’s brother Eugene was extremely important, as was her relationships to other artists of that period, from whom she gained much inspiration.
However, the Sun’s challenging square to her Moon and Mars, shows that there were some major difficulties in her relationships at home, possibly in her childhood, which could have felt like a cleavage, but a spur to achievement in the long run.
A sea of artistic inspiration
It’s like her own strong feelings being at loggerheads with her sense of duty as a person as she grew.
Most interesting of all to my mind is Venus conjunct the MC in Pisces in house 9. If Venus can represent an aspect of art, then Pisces is like a sea of inspiration, very close to one of the prime indicators of career, or life direction.
This, perhaps, more than any other point in her chart, describes her very soft, subtle signature style of ‘effleurer’ and the ‘feminine charm’ she was known to illustrate in her work.
Paul Signac had a deep love of the sea. Photo by Pixaby. Pexels.com
Paul Signac is not necessarily the first name that springs to mind when one thinks of the post impressionist period at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Nevertheless, a short study of his life reveals how key he was, not only in supporting Georges Seurat, founder of pointillism, and helping Henri Matisse develop and grow beyond Fauvism, but also in establishing ideas in art theory and encouraging communist anarchism, which was very much a supporting philosophy, opening up so-called artistic freedom.
He was also a great collaborator and supporter of fellow artists, and became a long time president of the Société des Artistes Indépendants.
The sea
Although he originally trained as an architect, he began to paint seriously after seeing Monet’s work.
Signac adored the sea, not just painting it, but being on it, a part of it, sailing around the coasts of Europe, drawing and sketching, to bring ideas back to the studio. Eventually he settled by the sea at St. Tropez.
Pointillism
Intrigued by Seurat’s revolutionary pointillism, he became a supporter and developed the technique himself, which in his hands further developed later into larger squares of colour, as opposed to small dots.
In time he became president of the Salon des Independents, an important organisation of the time which set the standards for 20th century exhibitions, allowing more freedom for the artist.
Dominant water element
He also knew Van Gogh and worked with him for a time and wrote extensively on the theory of art, with much of his output remaining unpublished.
So what about his birth chart? Well, he has Aries rising, quite fitting for his pioneering attitude. He also has Neptune quite close to his ascending degree, also appropriate since he was so fond of the sea, almost spiritually attached to it. Neptune is quite often prominent in the charts of artists. The water element is also quite dominant in his chart as a whole.
Strong Scorpio and 8th house
Neptune is in opposition to Venus in Aquarius, another symbol of the feminine, which leads one to feel that this was often a source of unease in his life, particularly in regard to relationships, which might have been quite unusual and prone to mysterious endings.
What is most interesting in his chart though, is a very full house 8 in Scorpio. Here we have his ruler, Mars conjunct Mercury and Jupiter and the Sun and Moon together later in that house.
Penetrating, intense mind
His ruler here will add greater intensive energy; his systematic approach to art, like sailing around the European coasts for the purpose of painting, is an example of this.
Mars close to Mercury and Jupiter, gives him a deeply penetrating, inwardly expansive mentality, which as we have seen, correlates well to his writings about art theory and his strong interest in political movements like anarchistic communism.
Do or die attitude
Indeed, this house 8 activity, including of course his Sun and Moon, suggests a strong interest in and attachment to others and their establishment of security, and in the deeper, more secretive aspects of life, like death, regeneration, existence itself.
It is this ‘do or die’ outlook which could have led to the interest in more fundamental theorising politically and philosophically. It also points to the fact that he was a very loyal friend and collaborator to other artists and helped to steer the movement along a more productive path.
Fundamental
What’s more, there is the opposition of Pluto in Taurus in house 2 to house 8 Mercury, Mars and Jupiter.
Here we can see fully underlined the undermining attitude he had towards the status quo through his interest in anarchistic communism. He wanted to change things for the better, but believed that only fundamental, even drastic political change could bring that about, even at the potential cost of his own security.
A prime mover
Considering all this Scorpio and house 8 activity, it is perhaps not surprising that Paul Signac is not necessarily one of the better known artists of his time. Yet, he was nevertheless a prime mover behind the scenes.
Henri Matisse, rival of Picasso, was one of the ground breaking artists of the last hundred years or so. He was noted for his sculpture and printmaking too.
Having first trained as a lawyer in France, he disappointed his wealthy father by taking up painting.
Meeting Australian artist John Russell in Brittany changed his life. Russell introduced him to impressionism and the work of Van Gogh.
Intensity of colour
Immediately he began to experiment with the use of intense colour, which led him to being one of the forerunners of the Fauvist movement of the early 1900s. From then on, he became ever more experimental, using large blocks of intense colour and increasingly more revolutionary styles. His extraordinary career spanned 50 years.
Astrologically, Matisse was born with expressive Leo on the ascendant, always pretty useful for a creative person who wants to make a mark.
His Moon in Sagittarius in house 5 would add a creative restlessness to his character, always open to new influences, especially from abroad. Nevertheless, with Saturn quite close to the Moon, he would always likely seek practical ways of applying that expression.
Personal drive
However, his ruler, the Sun, is found in Capricorn in house 6. Here is the ambition added to the forceful personality, the determination to apply and establish himself through hard work.
What is more, his Sun is trine a Jupiter Pluto conjunction on his midheaven in Taurus. This adds great practical opportunities and an intense drive to his career aspirations.
Practical application
The fact that he could turn his hand to more tactile work like sculpture and printmaking is shown by the Capricorn Taurus link up here.
Venus rules Taurus and his Venus is in Aquarius, hinting of his unusual, unique perspective on art. Jupiter, prominently placed and aspected, also rules his house 5 of creativity, which adds further to the mix.
Channelled energies
Though his Mercury in Capricorn shows mental astuteness, it is in exact opposition to his Uranus in Cancer in house 12 and square Neptune in Aries in house 9.
I think this indicates much mental agitation and energy, especially with Mars also not far away from Mercury. With Uranus in house 12 and Neptune involved, he might not have been consciously aware of where this agitated energy came from, but it may well have been a bonus for his creativity, inspiration and originality in art.
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