“The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or woman who created it… (but) it is language which speaks not the author.” 8 With appropriated works, the viewer is less likely to consider the role of the author or artist in constructing interpretations and opinions of the work if they are aware of the work from which it was appropriated. His 1966 work ‘The Death of the Author’ argued that we should not look to the creator of a literary or artistic work when attempting to interpret the meaning inherent within. 7 Perhaps the most famous supporter of this notion was Roland Barthes. The practice of appropriation is often thought to support the point of view that authorship in art is an outmoded or misguided concept. Authorship then, determines a responsibility for what is created by that author. The term ‘author’ refers to one who originates or gives existence to a piece of work. To properly examine the concept it is also necessary to consider the work of the artists associated with appropriation with regards to their motivations, reasoning, and the effect of their work. We shall discuss these in depth in order to contextualise the works we will investigate later in this essay. The concepts of originality and of authorship are central to the debate of appropriation in contemporary art. Other types of appropriation often do not have such clear differences between the original and the newly appropriated piece. The historical reference to Picasso is there, but this is undeniably the artist’s own work. Colescott has made this famous image his own, in terms of colour and content, whilst still making his inspiration clear. Here Colesscott has developed Picasso’s abstraction and ‘Africanism’ in line with European influences.

Left: Robert Colesscott, Les Demoiselles d’Alabama, 1985 5 Right: Pablo Picasso, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, 1907 6Ībove we see a contemporary example of appropriation, a painting which borrows its narrative and composition from the infamous Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso.

Picasso photo reader