Pablo Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907. Pablo Picasso is a Spanish painter who has experimented with many different styles. His goal was to challenge illusions and western conceptions to develop a unique style. His art is influenced in many ways, including Cezanne’s paintings or African sculptures. Picasso’s partner Georges Braque was the one who helped him create Cubism. Picasso also had an influence from Braque. Cubism gained popularity in 1907-1914, and it was promoted by Picasso & Braque. Picasso uses Cubism to create works that have nontraditional elements. He also incorporates figures into the ground and places other elements in flat planes. Cubism has these characteristics of positivism and abstraction because in avant-grade time, artists used a highly abstracted style.
Picasso depicts nude females in a painting with a background room. He was inspired by Barcelona’s streets and transferred the women from Avignon to his canvas. Some critics assert that the painting’s style is Expressionist. Expressionists often use abstract or distorted forms to express their emotions. Picasso, on the other hand, was a co-founder the Cubist movement and used sand to reconstruct broken forms. Cubism uses non-traditional elements like historical references. Picasso often does this. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was created by Cubism, not expressionism. Picasso’s work is influenced by ancient cultures and history. In painting Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, Picasso uses nontraditional pictures to create curvaceous nude bathers. The two women on the left side of the painting seem to be influenced by[] African style. Their crude, screwy faces are out of proportion with their bodies. They are denied continuity and integrity. These figures are human-like and clearly human. But he changed it a little [] by himself. Picasso, in breaking from Western art conventions, which date back to ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, [sought] for inspiration in other, equally old traditions (pg85). Picasso used African art to ruin the traditional beauty of elements by making them look rough. Picasso made his own figures, which are not traditional elements. This painting isn’t Expressionist since it has historical elements, non-traditional forms, and uses them in a Cubist way.
Pablo Picasso combined ground and figure together. Picasso used parallel and perpendicular lines and angles to overlap the painting. The woman’s shadow on the right is very scattered and creates the illusion of a two dimensional perspective. It is more realistic to see the scene in three-dimensional space rather than two-dimensional. Artists can create two-dimensional space by using themes and screen interludes. Picasso created a shallow, relief-like space by combining figures with the ground. Picasso wants figures and background to be closer. Picasso uses blue on the block-background to make the figures retreat. Geitlin said, “Merging of Figure and Ground, Reflecting the Assumption that All Parts of the Work Participate in Its Expression”( Page 85). The painting is a perfect example of Cubist concepts and uses of space.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon also falls under the Cubist category due to its use of broken and flat figures. Picasso recombined all the faces of different people into one plane. The artist has divided the body of characters into geometric shapes and recombined them on his canvas. The breasts of a woman may be seen on her left-upside face. Her front face might appear on either side of her nose. Facial features can also appear stretched out or in an extended position. Picasso uses broken figures to create a painting that has no sense of perspective. The breasts of the woman at the top right, and the mask directly below are examples. Picasso’s work was created by using broken shapes and recombined shapes because people live in four-dimensional spaces and have not enough time to pay attention to everything. Picasso’s paintings are a way to express this concept. To do so, he used different perspectives to look at the same people and things he deemed important. Picasso combined all the important elements on canvas. Through his works, we are able to experience a four-dimensional world. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon can be considered a Cubist painting.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was revolutionary in that it marked Picasso’s first steps into Cubism. This is the first Cubist painting and it reflects both the style and philosophy from that time. The painting combines traditional elements with figures that create a 2-dimensional space. Figures have been recombined to flat planes after being broken. The work may not be attractive to some critics, but art is subjective. The painting showed the origins and impact of a modern movement.
