What a show! The superb first season of Genius ended on National Geographic this week and offered a fascinating and immersive take on the life and work of Albert Einstein.
Although he was focal point of the series, our favourite character by far was his ex-wife Mileva Maric (Samantha Colley) whose tragic story reflected the very harshest realities of the plight of women in our sexist world. Her story was truly
gut wrenching.
Now that Einstein's Genius has been explored, National Geographic has confirmed that the second season will be about Pablo Picasso.
Here's what they have to say about it:
The artistic career of Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso spanned more than 80 of his 91 years, much of it in his second home of France.
Much like the subject of the first season Genius, Albert Einstein, Picasso imagined and interpreted the world in totally new and unorthodox ways, and constantly reinvented our perceptions of art and creativity.
The prolific artist generated more than 50,000 works, among the most notable being The Old Guitarist from his Blue Period, now on display at the Art Institute of Chicago; Guernica, inspired by the Nazi bombing of a small Spanish town of the same name, currently on display at the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain; and Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, inspired by lover and muse Fernande Olivier, now on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
His passionate nature and relentless creative drive were inextricably linked to his personal life, which included tumultuous marriages, numerous affairs and constantly shifting political and personal alliances.
He lived most of his life in the vibrant Paris of the first half of the 20th Century and crossed paths with writers and artists including Ernest Hemingway, Coco Chanel, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Gertrude Stein, Georges Braque, and Jean Cocteau.
Picasso constantly reinvented himself, always striving to innovate and push the boundaries of artistic expression.
Showrunner, executive producer and writer Ken Biller will continue his role overseeing the new season. The second season will also once again hail from From Fox 21 Television Studios, whose recent “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” dominated awards contests and critics’ list.
Filming is expected to begin later this year for a 2018 premiere on National Geographic Channels in 171 countries and 45 languages.