CUBISM - PICASSO - 1

Pablo Picasso

Now that we're introduced to Impressionism, let's learn about Cubism.  Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a founder of the Cubist movement.

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
(The Young Women of Avignon)

The most famous example of Cubism painting is Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (left).  In this painting, he abandoned all known form and representation of traditional art.  Instead, he used distortion of female bodies and geometric forms in a unique way.  It shows how Picasso was influenced by African art.

This painting took him nine months to complete.  It shows the novelty of Picasso's passion.  He created hundreds of sketches to prepare for the final work. 

When it was first  exhibited in 1916, the painting was considered immoral. The title refers to the red-light district of Avignon Street in Barcelona, Spain, where Picasso frequented prostitutes.  The painting depicts five nude or nearly nude prostitutes in a confrontational pose, staring directly at the viewer. 

The painting combines different styles and breaks down traditional forms.  The female bodies are depicted with angular planes and geometric shapes, and their faces are inspired by African masks and Iberian sculpture.  It's an example of how Picasso questioned and transformed accepted art traditions.  He rejected the concept that art should copy nature, or that artists should adopt the traditional techniques of perspective and modeling. 

The painting is brutally honest with the viewer and doesn't attempt to cover up the gruesome realities of life.  Instead of shaping these women into ideal figures of conditioned beauty, Picasso challenges viewers to find the beauty in what is in front of them.  Women do not all look one certain way, and every one is uniquely beautiful in their own way.  Whether we see these women as beautiful or not, the point is that Picasso has brought raw reality to light in this painting.

Adding to the rawness, Picasso chooses a risky topic.  Prostitution is not something that is made to be seen as artistic, and Picasso decided to use prostitutes as his focus here.  Through Cubism, he brought a different approach to depicting the human body in art.  Often in early art, women were portrayed as delicate symbols of beauty or temptation, but these women are shown in a rough, distorted element and their feminine features are made to be more masculine.

This painting measures 96 inches x 92 inches and is valued at 1.2 billion dollars.  It is located at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.