Pablo Picasso was a spanish artist born in Malaga, Spain on October 25th, 1881. He spent most of his adult life in France and passed away in the country on April 8th, 1973. Aside from his notorious painting career, Pablo Picasso had also delved in other artistic activities. He was interested in sculpting, making ceramic pieces, writing poetry, and printmaking. Pablo Picasso’s main painting style was Cubism. Cubism was an avant-garde art movement that had emerged in the early 20th century. Picasso was one of the key artists to start this movement and art style. Cubist artwork depicted natural figures in a more fragmented and abstract way.
The specific Cubist art piece that struck me at the Museum of Modern Art was Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. The piece was created in 1907. It is an oil painting sizing at 96 inches by 92 inches and is worth 1.2 billion dollars. The painting is of five female prostitutes in a brothel. Picasso paints these women in a Cubist way, adding sharp angles and distinct lines to their figures. These women look rigid and exposed, they are not made to look like the typical porcelain, dolled up female figures in art of previous times. It is a piece rather raw in nature, causing society to step out of its visual comfort zone and the general visual recognition of women in art and culture as perfect beings of beauty. The uniqueness of this piece caught my eye and the unusual depiction of women. His way of painting these women is strangely beautiful, it is different from the typical paintings of women.
This piece connects to the Modernist element of being brutally honest with the audience, not covering up the gruesome realities of life, and not covering up the natural wonders of humanity. 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 person is uniquely beautiful in their own charms. Whether you view these women as beautiful or not, the point is that Picasso has brought raw reality to light in this piece.
He has painted unique looking women that do not fall under the typical female depiction in classical art. Adding to the rawness of this piece, Picasso illustrates a rather risky topic. Prostitution is not something that has generally made to be seen as artistic and Picasso had decided to use prostitutes as his focus for his painting. Through Cubism, Picasso has brought a different approach to art and depiction of the human body to light. Oftentimes in early art, women were depicted as delicate symbols of beauty or temptation but in this piece Picasso illustrates theses women in a rough and distorted element, typical feminine features are made to be more masculine.
Modernist writers had introduced a new and different form of writing to the world where the absurd are welcomed and acceptable. Modernist literature puts societal appropriations to the test in bringing up raw, gore, and otherwise known as shameful themes to a story. The element of absurdity and risk taking in terms of questionable material to the properness of society is a part of both Modernist literature and Picasso’s piece Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
Eden, You have chosen a painting that is not just one of Picasso’s best known works, but is one of the most famous examples of Modernism in visual art. As your post makes clear, many aspects of this painting, relating both to its form and to its subject, were seen as dramatically new and even shocking when the work was first exhibited. Nice job!