Picasso's Most Controversial Painting: Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
Summary
TLDRThe script delves into Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,' painted in 1907, exploring its groundbreaking portrayal of five sex workers. It discusses the painting's disconcerting nature, with its angular, aggressive figures that defy traditional beauty standards. The influence of African masks and the artist's own fears and desires are considered, as well as the work's role in the birth of cubism and its challenging of colonialist and feminist norms.
Takeaways
- 🎨 Pablo Picasso's early experiences, including a visit to a brothel with his father, influenced his artwork, particularly his portraits of women.
- 👩❤️👨 Women in Picasso's life, not just his romantic partners, but also patrons and strangers, were a source of inspiration for his art.
- 🖼 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' is a groundbreaking painting that marked a significant departure from traditional portrayals of women, especially sex workers.
- 🔍 The painting is noted for its disconcerting and abstract representation of the female form, with hard, angular bodies that challenge the viewer's perception.
- 👀 The women in 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' confront the viewer with a direct stare, reflecting an awareness of the artist's and viewer's gaze.
- 🤔 The painting invites interpretation and analysis, with ambiguous elements like the disembodied hand and the women's expressions.
- 🏺 The influence of African art, particularly masks, is evident in the mask-like faces of the women, suggesting a deeper cultural dialogue.
- 🌐 Picasso's use of masks in his art was not just aesthetic but also served as a form of magic, mediating between the known and the unknown.
- 🚫 The painting resists easy comprehension, with the figures appearing to actively reject the expectation of visual pleasure.
- 🍇 The still life of fruit at the base of the painting may symbolize fecundity or sin, adding another layer of meaning to the work.
- 🌐 The painting raises questions about colonialism and feminism, as it involves the portrayal of 'othered' groups through the artist's perspective.
Q & A
What significant event happened in Picasso's life in 1894 that may have influenced his artwork?
-In 1894, Picasso's father took him to a brothel for the first time, which is suggested to have influenced some of his strongest work.
What are some examples of women in Picasso's life that inspired his artwork?
-Picasso was inspired by women such as Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot, and Jacqueline Roque, who were his wives or mistresses.
What is the significance of the painting 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' in Picasso's career?
-Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, painted in 1907, is hailed as an icon of modern art and marks a significant departure from traditional representations of women in art.
How does Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' differ from previous paintings of similar subjects?
-Unlike previous paintings, Picasso's work is highly disconcerting with a lack of discernible reality, depth, or dimension, and features jagged, fragmented bodies.
What is the role of the bowl of fruit in 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon'?
-The bowl of fruit at the base of the painting serves to definitively separate the world of the 'demoiselles' from the viewer's reality.
How do the women in 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' differ from those depicted by Ingres, Manet, or Matisse?
-While the women in the works of Ingres, Manet, and Matisse are soft and fleshy, Picasso's women are hard, angular, and strong, with an aggressive posture.
What is the significance of the hand emerging from above the first figure's head in 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon'?
-The unnatural hand creates ambiguity and prompts questions about its ownership and purpose, reflecting Picasso's use of ambiguity as a key element in his work.
How does Picasso use the figures in 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' to challenge the viewer?
-The figures confront the viewer with their gaze, refusing to provide visual pleasure or give themselves away, challenging the expectation of the female nude as an object of desire.
What influence did African art have on Picasso, particularly in 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon'?
-Picasso was profoundly influenced by African masks, which are evident in the mask-like faces of the last two figures in the painting.
What does Picasso mean when he refers to painting as a form of magic?
-Picasso viewed painting as a magical process that mediates between the artist and the hostile universe, imposing form on fears and desires.
How does 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' reflect Picasso's views on art and its relationship to power and fear?
-The painting suggests that art can be a means of seizing power by imposing form on terrors and desires, as influenced by the African masks that served as intermediaries between people and the unknown.
What are some possible interpretations of the fruit in the still life at the base of 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon'?
-The fruit could be interpreted as an allusion to fecundity or sin, or it might underline the sensuality of the painting, although its 2-dimensional, gestural nature suggests it serves more as a painting element than a realistic one.
How does 'Les Demoiselles d’Avignon' address colonialist or feminist subtext?
-The painting involves 'primitive' art and women, both of which are subject to the artist's colonizing brush, and it is open to interpretation whether they are restored or empowered under it.
Outlines
🎨 Picasso's Artistic Inspiration
The script begins with a backstory of Picasso's early exposure to the world of sex work through his father, which is suggested to have influenced his artwork. It discusses how women, including his wives, mistresses, and even sex workers, became muses for his creations. The narrative then focuses on 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,' a groundbreaking painting completed in 1907. This piece is recognized as a seminal work in modern art, challenging conventional aesthetics. The painting portrays five sex workers from a Barcelona brothel in a disconcerting manner, with an abstract, geometric space that lacks depth. The women are depicted with angular, hard bodies, in stark contrast to the soft curves found in earlier works by other artists. The script delves into the confrontational gaze of the women, suggesting a refusal to cater to the viewer's desire for visual pleasure. It also explores the possibility of the painting reflecting Picasso's own fears or desires through the use of mask-like faces, drawing a connection to African art and the use of masks as a means of mediating between the known and the unknown.
👁🗨 Confrontation and Ambiguity in 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon'
This paragraph continues the analysis of 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,' examining each figure individually. It describes the first figure's profile and the enigmatic hand above her head, which adds to the painting's ambiguity. The next two figures are covered partially by white sheets, posing with arms above their heads, and their bodies are depicted with sharp geometric shapes. The last two figures, set against a blue background, have more mask-like faces, reflecting Picasso's later fascination with African art. The script includes a quote from Picasso about his experience with African masks and how they influenced his understanding of art as a form of magic. The analysis ponders whether the masks on the women serve to manage Picasso's fears or desires or to separate the sex workers from the viewer. The paragraph also discusses the spatial compression and lack of coherence in the painting, suggesting a sense of fear, alienation, and otherness. The inclusion of fruit in the painting is noted, possibly as an allusion to sensuality or sin. The script concludes by raising questions about the colonialist and feminist subtexts of the painting, and how it represents a break from artistic tradition.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Picasso
💡Les Demoiselles d’Avignon
💡Modern Art
💡Cubism
💡Sex Workers
💡Fang Masks
💡African Art
💡Alterity
💡Disconcerting
💡Ambiguity
💡Still Life
Highlights
Picasso's father introduced him to a brothel at the age of thirteen, which influenced his art.
Women in Picasso's life inspired some of his strongest work, including portraits of Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot, and Jacqueline Roque.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is considered an icon of modern art and a challenge to traditional aesthetics.
The painting depicts five naked women, who are sex workers from a brothel in Barcelona.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is disconcerting due to its lack of a discernible 'reality' and depth.
The women in the painting are portrayed with jagged, fragmented bodies, unlike the soft curves of previous artworks.
The women in the painting confront the viewer with a direct stare, challenging the expectation of visual pleasure.
The painting features an unnatural hand that raises questions about its ownership and symbolism.
Picasso was influenced by various artistic styles, including early Egyptian art, evident in the portrayal of the figures.
The women in the painting are portrayed with aggression and angularity, resisting comprehension.
The last two figures are visually separated by a blue background, indicating a different level of interpretation.
Picasso's use of mask-like faces may represent a mediation between fear, power, and the unknown.
The painting is seen as the seed of cubism and modernist fragmentation, with a lack of coherence and space.
The still life of fruit at the base of the painting may symbolize fecundity or sin, adding to the artwork's ambiguity.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon raises questions about colonialist and feminist subtexts within the artwork.
The painting represents a fundamental break with artistic tradition, featuring five naked women and a bowl of fruit.
Transcripts
Spain, 1894.
José Ruiz y Blasco, Pablo Picasso’s father,
takes his then thirteen year old son to a brothel for the first time
…And, although we’re not really going to go into detail here about Picasso’s exploits,
it’s safe to say that the women in his life would inspire some of his strongest work.
Just look at his portraits of Dora Maar
Or Françoise Gilot
Or Jacqueline Roque
…But this grouping isn’t limited to wives and mistresses. Picasso notoriously derived
inspiration from everywhere, from patrons and strangers to sex workers.
Which brings us to Les Demoiselles d’Avignon painted in 1907,
just thirteen years after his introduction to the world of sex work.
Les Demoiselles has been hailed as an icon of modern art and
an affront to “good sense.” Equal parts brilliant and troubling,
incendiary and confusing, this painting merits close, direct analysis.
What you’re seeing here is the legendary Spanish painter’s depiction of
5 naked women — sex workers from a well-known brothel on Carrer d’Avinyó (which is Catalan
for ‘Avignon Street’) in Barcelona, where the artist lived at the time.
Granted, the subject isn’t exactly revolutionary. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres did it in 1814
with Grande Odalisque. Édouard Manet, famously, with Olympia. And Edgar Degas,
too, in his Brothel Monotypes — to name a few.
What is new, however, is how Picasso handles it.
Unlike the paintings we’ve seen, Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is highly disconcerting.
For starters, we don’t understand where exactly these women are. Picasso tells us, in the title,
their location — but this specificity is belied by the lack of any discernible ‘reality’ surrounding
them. The ‘demoiselles’ or ‘young ladies’ in this painting occupy an incomprehensible (frankly,
unreadable) geometric space. We have no real sense of depth or dimension,
and a bowl of fruit at the base of the painting definitively separates their world from ours.
When we look at this painting, what we’re actually seeing are jagged,
fragmented bodies displayed (as if behind a glass case) aggressively in a space which only
serves to underline their angularity — or, one that dis-embodies the (displayed) bodies. Yet,
unlike the women of Ingres, Manet, or even Matisse (with their soft,
fleshy curves) Picasso’s demoiselles are hard, angular, and strong. Aggressive, even.
Like Manet’s Olympia, a few of Picasso’s women stare directly (read: confrontationally) out
at the viewer. However, unlike Olympia (lying in a bed, surrounded by sumptuous materials
and flowers), here, there is little trace of sex appeal. In their clear-eyed, aggressive
posturing, it is obvious that these women are aware of the artist’s (and viewer’s) gaze. To
some extent, they may even expect it. Yet, they do not give themselves away. This is no inviting
Maja Desnuda — instead, we are met with expertly crafted masks and exaggerated poses
(too exaggerated to be mistaken for anything but artifice). The elbows jut upwards into space,
while the faces are half contorted beyond recognition, half impassive, illegible.
…But perhaps the best way to get to grips with this painting
is by exploring these figures individually, left to right:
We see the first figure in profile. She faces the group, and directs our gaze bodily to the
frieze-like scene unfolding before us. Her foot is also seen from the side,
consistent with early Egyptian art. Picasso was influenced extensively
by various artistic styles, some of which can be seen in this work. But back to the figure:
a strange hand emerges from the space just above her head, and seems to reach
for something beyond the canvas. Indeed hands — disembodied, twisted, or reaching — figure
prominently in much of Picasso’s work, from Girl on the Ball to later Girl before a Mirror
and (several times) in his masterpiece, Guernica. In Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,
the unnaturalness of the hand almost begs the question — whose is it? (Our options:
the first figure’s, or no ones). And, if it is her hand, why does it look so unnatural?
The back of the hand faces out, toward us (we can see the nails). So, is this unnaturalness down to
a sense of display (the effortful twisting and contorting of the female nude under the (male)
artist’s gaze? Or something else entirely? As with much of Picasso’s work, ambiguity is the
watchword. We may never know definitively, but it is fun to explore different interpretations.
The next two figures seem to be a group within the group — they are both covered
(to some extent) by white sheets. Both have their arms above their heads and are (quite
consciously) posing. The body of the first of the two is a complex of stark geometries — her torso
is an hourglass, her groin a triangle, her armpit a perfect V (the visual antithesis to her elbow,
which forms an inverted V above her head). The second figure in this grouping is more columnar,
and takes the first’s pose a step further by placing both arms above her head. Like
the first figure, her eyes stare, they do not flirt. Her mouth is a simple line,
a dash — communicating nothing. There is aggression (in the stare, in the posture,
in the jagged angularity of the bodies), but there is no desire (on the women’s part) to be
comprehended. Indeed, Picasso’s demoiselles seem to actively resist comprehension: their staring
eyes confront — refusing the expectation of visual pleasure. They know they are on display. They know
you are looking at them (and they are looking at you, too). You cannot get too comfortable.
The last two figures are separated visually from the others by a blue background, and for
good reason. For one thing, their faces are more objectively mask-like than the others (we see the
influence of Fang masks especially in the standing figure). Later an avid collector of African art,
Picasso was profoundly influenced by African masks (as is clear in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon).
Describing a visit to the (now) Musée du Quai Branly, Picasso says:
“But I forced myself to stay, to examine these masks, all these objects that people had
created with a sacred, magical purpose, to serve as intermediaries between them and the unknown,
hostile forces surrounding them, attempting in that way to overcome their fears by
giving them color and form. And then I understood what painting really meant.
It’s not an aesthetic process; it’s a form of magic that interposes itself between us
and the hostile universe, a means of seizing power by imposing form on our
terrors as well as on our desires. The day I understood that, I had found my path.”
It is clear from his language that, for Picasso, these masks were not objects of
pure visual pleasure. He has to “force” himself “to stay” — it is an act of will. Moreover,
he is aware that this art, in its removal from the European tradition, is the product of
another consciousness, another set of facts, which produces different insights, different solutions.
Furthermore, according to Picasso,
“the masks weren’t just like any other pieces of sculpture. Not at all. They were
magic things…mediators […] Les Demoiselles d’Avignon must have come to me that day.”
But mediating…what? Did Picasso give the sex workers mask-like faces in an
attempt to render whatever fear he had of them (whatever power they held over him),
or his own desire — more manageable? Or, is the mask intended to separate
the sex worker from the viewer (the client, the artist) — to protect the self from “unknown,
hostile forces” and retain one’s sense of agency, of power? Again, it’s open to interpretation.
Returning to our subject, the figure in the foreground is seated,
a pink body in three-quarter view blending into itself with a twisted head. One gets
the sense that she has turned to confront the viewer and is not at all happy about
what she sees (we might read displeasure in her eyebrows, and her mouth is slightly ajar). Yet,
she too poses — her hands rests gently at an angle against her back — she almost takes
the shape of a vase, as we see the arms positioned at either side, like handles.
The last figure, bookending the frieze, seems to occupy her own niche,
almost. Her arms disappear behind folds of blue (could it be a curtain?). Like the first woman,
she looks at the group (not at us). Has she also stumbled in upon this scene?
In her positioning, the direction of her gaze and body, she takes us back into the picture.
And what we find there is fear, alienation, and an abiding sense of alterity. In Les Demoiselles
d’Avignon, we see the seed of cubism, of modernist fragmentation. There is a lack of
coherence — the space itself in illegible. Where are we? (Well, the brothel on Avignon Street,
of course) but what is that? Why is everything so close together, so compressed? There is no room to
breathe. No space. It is a secret space, a space of disclosures — but within it one does’t feel
secure, but rather disoriented and dislocated — like the hand above the first woman.
And what about the fruit? The still life of grapes, apples, and a slice of melon at the
center of the base of the frame? Like much of Picasso’s work, it might mean
anything. One might read it as a crude allusion to fecundity. As the apple of knowledge (here,
fleshly), of sin. In initial drafts the group was eating — Is it meant to underline the sensuality
or delectableness of the painting? Likely not — it is clear that this is 2-dimensional,
gestural fruit. It is a painting, there is no pretension to reality here.
…And, can we talk about Les Demoiselles d’Avignon without
addressing the colonialist or feminist subtext? The fundamental alterity which
has been built into the canvas? This is a painting all about the other,
involving so-called “primitive” art and women — both fall under the artist’s colonizing
brush — perhaps both (depending on your reading) — are restored or empowered under it? Perhaps not.
And what, in the end? A fundamental break with
artistic tradition: 5 naked women arranged around a bowl of fruit.
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