The painting that I chose to write about was “Bather” by Pablo Picasso. Pablo Picasso is one of the most well known painters in history. Born in Malaga, Spain, Pablo got heavily into art at a very young age. He was able to complete his first painting at nine years old. During his teenage years, Picasso was able to go to the best art schools in Spain. Eventually, Picasso was able to help create the art form of Cubism. Cubism is a form of painting that features simple geometric shapes. Picasso ends up being one of the most influential artists in the world with the help of his fifty-thousand plus works of art. Pablo Picasso is without a doubt one of the true pioneers of art.
In the painting Bather, Picasso used a nude female figure standing at the sea. Just from looking at the painting, it was very hard to tell whether the figure was a male or a female. What convinced me to believe that the figure was a female was by looking closely at the figure’s chest. It took me a little while to see that those are actually breasts that Picasso had painted on the figure. Also, by looking closely at the figure’s head, I was able to see that she has long hair that was tied up into a bun. Picasso was also able to make her breasts, stomach and shoulders into geometric arcs and curves. Usually, traditional paintings capture a single moment from a single perspective. However, Picasso was able to portray the figure’s torso from the front, back, side and presenting multiple views at once.
All of Picasso’s paintings including “Bather” is definitely apart of the Modern Era. Before the Modern Era, paintings were created in a very basic and traditional way. Pablo Picasso decided to do his artwork in a much different way. With his creation of Cubism, he was able to revolutionize the whole art world and is considered one of the most famous and lucrative artists of all time. “Bather” really stands out to a lot of people including myself. I was very impressed of how Picasso was able to show the many different views of the torso. You can see her chest, her sides and her back at the same time. I know that Picasso put his heart and soul into this painting just like he does with all of his other works of art. Two questions that I would really love to know is how long did it take him to fully create the painting and what was his inspiration of making this painting. Pablo Picasso was a man that loved women very much which makes sense as to why the figure is a female, but I really think that there is much more as to why she is standing at the sea. I really enjoyed going to museum and learning more about Pablo Picasso. He is truly one of the all time greats in the arts.
Stephen,
I think your description really captures one of the most important aspects of Picasso’s cubism – the ability to represent more than one perspective at the same time and in the same two-dimensional frame. This work feels like he is still experimenting with that strategy, so the form of the female bather is unexpected. For example, look at how her foot is twisted. That’s not Picasso making a mistake; it’s him struggling to capture more than one perspective at once. He is also willing to allow his subject not to appear beautiful – which was quite radical at the time! I’m glad that you enjoyed your visit to the museum!
Stephen this is an interesting work of art which can really make you observe really closely and think if this is a male or a female. We are able to see the person’s front and back all in one picture which is very awesome. I think You did a great job describing the painting.
I totally agree that Picasso revolutionized the art world with his works. Looking at paintings that did not comply with the modernist era you automatically spot the differences, you can even do so without looking at them. Picasso created images that have given us a completely different outlook of the world; which is one of the beauties of modernism. Also, to comment on the figure in the painting, most of Picasso’s subjects in his early career consisted of his female “friends” which I learned doing research for the painting I chose which was also by him.
I too picked a Pablo Picasso work of art because I have always been a big fan of his. When looking at “Bather”, my first question was whether or not the subject was a male or a female. I realized that the geometric arcs and curves highlights the feminine features of the nude figure. To answer your second question, I think that the reason the nude figure is standing on a beach and by the sea coincides with the title of the painting. When someone thinks of a bath, they imagine a bathtub. However with Pablo Picasso’s grand view of the world, I think he is saying for this figure, the world is their bathtub and their life is limitless in such a modern world.