Les Demoiselles d'Avignon: Analysis of One of the Most Famous Paintings by Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is a genius of his time. He gave the world many masterpieces, which today cause great delight among humanity. One of these is his painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", which was presented in 1907. Picasso succeeded in creating a masterpiece in which angular geometric forms are randomly piled on each other, and figures, devoid of any perspective, reject all the principles of traditional painting. This work was destined to become a cornerstone in the emergence of Large Original Art cubism.

History of the Creation of the Artwork

The painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" is Pablo Picasso's first unique experience in creating cubism canvases. The artist spent one year (he worked from 1906 to 1907) creating this original Art Canvas Abstract artwork. Picasso originally called his Canvas Large painting "The Brothel of Avignon", but then he changed the title to "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" after seeing the picture by André Salnoy.

Collector Jacques Douce acquired the painting 13 years after its creation. The wide public saw the Oversize Artwork only in 1937.

Context of the Painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" by Pablo Picasso

If you look at the painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" by Pablo Picasso, you can see five naked women. Each of them is depicted differently. The faces of the two Fine art figures on the right resemble masks. This is cubism, a direction in painting. The picture's background is blue, and the women are depicted in pink and ocher tones. That is, the influence of the corresponding periods of the artist's work is traced.

To date, there are several versions regarding the origin of the content of the picture:

1. According to the first version, the picture depicts a brothel, which was located in the Gothic Quarter in Barcelona;
2. According to the second version, Pablo Picasso's life had a difficult period at the time of creating the picture. Relations with his wife, Fernanda Olivier, became complicated. Therefore, a work of art can be regarded as a kind of quintessence of the master's inner world;
3. According to the third version, two main passions of the artist are intertwined in the picture – theater and painting. So, perhaps, he decided to express them in this way, creating an original masterpiece that forever entered the history of world art.

Inspirations and Influences

According to art historians, the inspiration for the creation of "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" by Pablo Picasso was the Framed painting "Bathers" created by Paul Cezanne. The artist saw it at an exhibition of Iberian sculpture in Paris in 1906.

Bodies and Faces

"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" refers to Pre-Cubism or Proto-Cubism, which is dominated by the human silhouette through the use of pure geometric figures with the intention of giving painting a new form. Thus, the proportions of women's bodies are distorted. They consist of angular planes. When considering the picture, the deformation of the woman is visible from left to right. Instead of faces, there are masks that seem broken into separate fragments.

Critics' Opinion About Picasso's Painting

Pablo Picasso's friends were ambivalent about the created Painting On Canvas. However, Matisse called it a new key to the development of modern painting. Georges Braque created his famous work "Nude" based on "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon".

Many other critics did not consider the picture"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" a masterpiece.

Concluding Remarks

Picasso is a famous artist who admired cubism. His painting "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" turned out to be a real masterpiece, despite the fact that the first reaction of critics and the public was a real shock, and most of his friends did not accept the artwork at all.