Pablo Picasso(1881-1973), was a Spanish painter, who is considered as one of the greatest artist of the 20th century. He is widely known for co-founding the Cubist style. He also was sculptor, ceramist, stage designer and printmaker.
Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realist in his early years, painting in a realistic manner at that time. Then, his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas.
He arived in Paris from Spain around the turn of the century as a young and ambitious painter. For several years he alternated between living and working in Barcelona, Madrid and the Spanish countryside along with frequent trips to Paris. By 1904, he was fully settled in Paris and had established several studios and important relationships.
Picasso's carer is in fact a patchwork of different styles. Picasso's work is often categorized into periods and the most commonly accepted periods in his word are the Blue Period (1901-1904), the Rose Period (1905-1907), the African-influenced Period (1908-1909), Analytic Cubism (1909-19129, and Synthetic Cubism (1912-1919)
His influence on art transcended the Picasso style and marked the beginning of a new era in modern art.
Synthetic Cubism was developeed by Picasso, Braque and Juan Gris and others in the 1913-1919. This cubism movement was characterized by the introduction of different surfaces, textures, papier colle, collage elements and a great variety of merged subject matter. This was the beginning of collage materials introduced as an important ingredient of fine art works.
Piccaso declared: 'When we painted as we did, we had no intention of creating Cubism, but only of expressing what was inside us' 'Art is a lie make us realize the truth'
LES DEMOISELLES D'AVIGNON
It is the painting we have chosen
- This painting is an oil on canvas, with dimensions 243.9 cm x 233.7 cm created by Picasso in Paris, during the summer of 1907.
- It represents Picasso's black period which was inspired by African art and overlaps the first phase in cubism, which is called anlaytical cubism (lasted until 1911)
- It was a revolutionary and controversial painting, leading to anger and disagreement, even amongst his closest associates and friends.
-It is caharacterized by monochrome and relatively unemotional subjects.
- The painter depicts human figures by using several viewer points, which became one of the characteristics features of cubism. He dissects and reconstructs the characters, depciting its essence rather than its appearance. Although largely abstract, the faceted technique still produces a recognizable image of the subject.
-The work portrays five nude female prostitutes from a brothel located in Avinyó Street, in Barcelona. Its original name was 'The brothel of Avignon'.
- Each figure is depicted in a disconcerting confrontational manner and none are conventionally feminine. The bodies shape appear angular and disjointed. Two are shown with African mask-like faces and three more with faces in the Iberian style, giving them a savage aura.
- It is important the abandonment of perspective in favor of a flat, two-dimensional picture plane.
María Carracedo and Pilar Suarez de Cepeda.
