Guillaume Apollinaire

When researching Appllinaire, I found that he was accused of stealing the Mona Lisa painting along with Picasso. It's funny that this is the case because this picture of him really looks as though he is sneaky.

A quick biography on him:
He was born in Rome, Italy in August of 1880. He died in Paris, France in 1918. He didn't really live a long life but I guess that was just the norm for his era. He died at age 38. Most of his literature is considered French Literature.

While in his twenties, he worked in a bank. This is how he developed his relations with Picasso. Also, this is when he found his love Marie Laurencin. While working at the bank, he published some books-which may be viewed as somewhat pornographic (eww...no offense to guys but how typical).

After he was arrested for the accusation of stealing the Mona Lisa, he decided to enlist in the infantry during World War I. He married shortly after to some woman named Jacqueline Kolb but did not live long much after that because he was suffering war injuries to the head and then passed from the Spanish flu (what a horrible way to die...this is why war is not always good).

Another thing that I found interesting about him is that he was a playwright, poet, and art critic. I'm really surprised that I have not been introduced to his works throughout any of my schooling. Although, his name does sound somewhat familiar. I didn't get a chance to go look at some of his works but I probably will read some of his novels if they are not pornographic (he he he).

Example of his work are as follows:


Although I do not know what this poem is about because I don't know the language, I really like how he formatted the poem because it is an image of the Eiffel Tower. I only wish I knew what it was about (hopefully not anything sexual).

Many other poems from Appollinaire are written in the form of an object. For example, the head of a woman, a tree, etc. Poems written in this form is really unique and interesting because it also offers the reader a visual aid along with the words.

After looking at some of his works, I am quite curious to find the translations for the poems.