Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon, by the Spanish painter and
sculptor Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), is generally regarded as a cornerstone in
the history of art and the seminal work of Cubism.
The oil on canvas painting, which measures 8 feet by 7 ft 8
ins (244 x 235 cm), dates from 1907 and was first exhibited at Bateau-Lavoir, a
celebrated avant-garde studio in Paris. It was not shown in public until 1916.
It can now be seen at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The title was given to the painting by Andre Salmon, a contemporary
art critic, and refers to “Avignon” as a street in Barcelona that was the
location of a well-known brothel.
The painting is of five prostitutes (the “demoiselles”),
although Picasso originally intended to include two male figures, namely a
sailor and a medical student holding a skull. The violently jagged bodies of
the five women face the viewer head-on, two of them pushing aside curtains and
the others in erotic poses.
The painting is remarkable for several reasons. For example,
Picasso flouts two of the conventions by which a painter creates an illusion of
reality, namely shading to convey mass and perspective to give space. Where
there is a shading, it contradicts itself and refuses to convey any
three-dimensional effect, and there is no use of traditional perspective. The
fragmented figures are what make this painting the foundation stone of Cubism.
The painting combines completely different styles within the
same image. The three faces to the left are modelled on ancient Iberian
sculptures, whereas the other two come from African tribal masks.
Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon marks a transitional phase in the
evolution of Picasso’s art, towards the complex geometries of full Cubism.
Picasso was arguably the single most influential artist of
the 20th century, playing a major role in its artistic development.
Even those artists not directly influenced by his work could not avoid its many
implications.
© John Welford
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