Pablo Picasso made one of the most memorable and recognized works as it is Demoiselles d'Avignon , in this informative post we bring you an interesting analysis of this magnificent painting, which initiates the cubist style, breaking the existing paradigms for that moment in history. Don't stop reading it!
What is the painting of the Les Demoiselles d'Avignon about?
This artistic painting known as the Avignon ladies suggests a street found in the city of Barcelona where, at that time in history, there were a large number of nightclubs known as brothels.
It is Pablo Picasso who presents this new way of experimenting with forms. It is essential to tell you through this article that the work of art known as the Avignon ladies is a pro-Cubist painting that initiates a revolution in art through its presentation.
To create this work, Pablo Picasso allowed himself to be influenced by the works of art that Cézanne made, specifically a well-known one by the name of The Bathers.
Like the works of El Greco, interested in the vision of the Apocalypse, as well as Primitive Art, which was presented for the first time at the Trocadero Museum in the city of Paris, the African masks without forgetting the Iberian sculpture, which was also part of the influences that took this artistic author.
So these ideas were formed in the mind of Pablo Picasso and between the month of June of the year 1906 to the month of July of the year 1907 this pictorial work was born known by the name of the Avignon ladies where it breaks standards of realism as it is spatial depth and human anatomy.
Being considered a work that belongs to pre-cubist or proto-cubism where the human silhouette predominates through the use of pure geometric figures with the intention of giving a new shape to painting.
Well, the body of the women who are naked in the work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is made up of angular planes and when observing the painting, the deformity of the women is evident from left to right.
Being a way of warning how dangerous a venereal disease can be that affected a large number of people in the community of artists in the city of Paris, hence the importance of the visual effect embodied in this painting as a moral principle.
More about this interesting painting
This painting of the Avignon ladies shows the beginning of the African or pro-Cubism period, with Pablo Picasso being the greatest exponent of this artistic movement where the paradigm of Realism is broken.
Where the work is reduced to angular planes that do not have a background, much less spatial perspective, and the forms are defined through the use of light and dark lines.
In this painting of the Avignon ladies, two faces can be seen with an aspect more related to cubism and are similar to masks that are evident in African art, being known in the European continent at that time in history.
While the two figures in the center of the work are similar to the frescoes of the Middle Ages and even to primitive Iberian sculptures due to their faces, while the first female figure located on the left presents a profile that evokes Egyptian paintings.
It is commented in this painting The young ladies of Avignon the Greek influence is recognized in the elongated figures that the artist paints in addition to the ocher and reddish colors that are typical of African art in terms of the environmental structure is very similar to the work of the bathers of the Cezanne painter.
So that you are aware of the size of the work Las Señoritas de Avignon made by Pablo Picasso for the month of July of the year 1907 and measures 243,9 by 233,7 centimeters.
It was a work highly criticized by other artists, collectors and avant-garde artists of the time who were unable to understand the new direction that this artist was taking who, together with another painter named Georges Braque, would continue the new current of cubism until the First World War began. .
Although this work was made in 1907, it remained in Pablo Picasso's workshop and was only exhibited in the d'Antin gallery until 1916, after which it was kept again in his studio and in 1925 it was exhibited in the Museo del Little Palais.
Later sold to the Museum of Modern Art located in New York City and is one of the most precious artistic pieces of this institute. This pictorial work, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, is considered the beginning of modern art and is part of the avant-garde art of the XNUMXth century.
Background on this artistic work
Regarding the background of this painting about the Avignon ladies, it was based on the study of the Spanish influences where the author of the work had been trained, so he could not ignore El Greco and the paintings of Velázquez in addition to Francis Goya.
Therefore, El Greco was essential in the painting of the Avignon ladies due to the aspect of the color to be used, which is why mention is made of profane love in the Vision of the Apocalypse.
Due to circumstances of fate, this work had been bought by another artist named Ignacio Zuloaga in 1897 and in the workshop in Paris Picasso had the opportunity to study and analyze it.
Influences that allowed to create the painting of the young ladies of Avignon are referred to the works created by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres who made Turkish bath in 1862.
In addition to Paul Cézanne, he is referring to the end of post-impressionism and the beginning of modernism with his work Los Bañistas where a group of nude women with a sculptural influence is evident.
It can be deduced that in honor of the death of the artist Cézanne, his works were presented in 1907, which gave rise to the creation of the artistic work The Ladies of Avignon, being part of Cubism with Cezanne influence.
Just as he was interested in elements from other cultures that were known by the term primitive belonging to the Iberian and sub-Saharan African cultures.
Well, at the end of the 1897th century. Archaeological studies of these cultures were being carried out, the most notable being La Dama de Elche, which is believed to have been made four hundred years before Christ and was discovered in XNUMX.
Male figures were even observed with features where geometric figures were evident and they were taken to the Louvre Museum where one of those heads was stolen in March 1907.
It is said that he was Apollinaire's secretary and it came into the hands of Pablo Picasso, creator of the Avignon ladies, who had it for a certain time under his power and then returned it.
Another of his influences are the masks that came from West Africa, so the Trocadero Ethnography Museum was another influential party in the creation of the painting The Ladies of Avignon.
How Cubism arises in the works of Picasso
Picasso is recognized worldwide as one of the most influential modern artists thanks to his innovation in cubism, which is a way of revolutionizing reality in a painted work, rejecting the traditional method of evoking three-dimensional images.
Therefore, Pablo Picasso was characterized by emphasizing flat and two-dimensional images, avoiding the use of traditional techniques such as lines, chiaroscuro and modeling.
This was done from the superimposition of figures with the intention of obtaining various points of view, which he did gradually through the sketches he made individually.
Likewise, the author of the Avignon ladies dispenses with light and bright colors, choosing tones according to the interior light and irregular shapes to form the figures of the five ladies that seem to simulate pieces of glass that have been broken, including geometric shapes and lines. straight.
What does cubism mean
As you well know, cubism is an avant-garde movement that began at the beginning of the XNUMXth century and the use of geometric figures is its greatest quality, among them the triangle, the rectangle and the cubes, its intention was to break the natural representation and use superimposed planes on a frame.
Because Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was created by Pablo Picasso in 1907, this date is considered the beginning of Cubism, since African art entered his work.
Like post-impressionism by the French painter Paul Cézanne who was born in 1839 and coincidentally died in 1906, when he began to create his interesting painting.
Another of the topics that are touched on in this interesting topic of cubism is the intention to represent the fourth dimension through the use of hyperpolyhedra that are part of the ideas of space time that flaunted the theory of relativity exposed by Albert Einstein in the year 1905.
Therefore, these qualities led this new movement, cubism, to be a plastic expression of art from a rational and analytical vision that contrasts with what was in the arena, which was subjectivity and emotions.
Among the main qualities of cubism we have the analytical vision of the elements that are to be represented in a plane where there is no perspective or spatial depth, the rise in the use of cubes, cylinders, triangles and angles within the same plane stands out.
There is a preference for straight lines and the application of other techniques such as collage and typography, which was very common in surrealism and modernism.
Regarding the title of this work
According to historical data and research, Pablo Picasso gave the title to his artistic works after a certain period of time, but in this painting it was different according to the anecdotes that are commented on it.
When presenting the work to his friends, he still did not have a title and it was according to the narration that his friend named Apollinaire gave it the name of Philosophical Brothel.
Another of his friends named André Salmon gives him the title Les demoiselles d'Avinyó, which was a street located in the city of Barcelona in the Spanish nation where there were a large number of brothels.
Only these friends knew this place, so many innocents made reference to the French city of Avignon and thus the painting takes its title, being known today as The Ladies of Avignon.
This small group of friends of Pablo Picasso witnessed the birth of this work The Ladies of Avignon that caused both astonishment and ridicule.
For this reason, it was kept in his study for nine years before being exhibited in the 1916 exhibition. It was again kept in his study, eight more years later.
The sketches referring to this artistic work
You should know that Pablo Picasso was in charge of making several sketches before being able to create his work directly on the canvas and in the Avignon ladies he created it from the oil technique but we will explain in this section of the article about his sketches, so Continue reading on this interesting topic.
It is said that one of the first sketches of the Avignon ladies was made in black pencil and pastel on paper using the horizontal format and the measurements of the canvas were going to be smaller, placing seven characters in the work according to the sketches.
Being five women and two gentlemen, one of them was a student because he was carrying in his hands a book with the image of a skull entering the left side of the painting and a sailor who was sitting in the middle of the bedroom.
In front of this person was the round table where a still life was observed consisting of three pieces of sideburns, a glass of wine and a vase with some flowers.
According to the sketch, the women were distributed as follows: one to the right who enters the bedroom and moves the curtain with her hand.
Another of the ladies has her back turned and is seated, a lady accompanies the sailor and two women are standing. In this sketch the scene of a brothel is clearly identified.
the sketches continue
Then another of the sketches made by Pablo Picasso is made under the technique of watercolor on paper, it is very similar to the final work where the male figures disappear, leaving the five female figures that are known in the painting of the Avignon ladies.
The woman who was sitting on her back remains almost the same but now she turns her head while still on her back to observe the viewers of the painting. As for the woman who moves the curtain with her hand, she continues in the same position and the student is replaced by another woman who accompanies the first.
As for the still life, it is shown in the foreground and the vase with flowers is no longer in this second sketch and it takes on the colors of the work to be exhibited, in addition, the concept of a brothel is no longer as defined as in the first sketch and each lady He is the protagonist in the work of the young ladies of Avignon.
In order to be able to create these sketches, the artist Pablo Picasso had to make individual drawings of each of the characters that will participate in the work The Ladies of Avignon.
To study the size of their heads, bodies, legs, arms, their faces both from the front and in profile, and even these papers are preserved to learn about the art of this singular painter.
Description of the work the young ladies of Avignon
This artistic painting of the young ladies of Avignon is divided into three sections and is limited by a curtain. These five female figures are located in an unreal setting since shadows or lights are not observed, but the use of different colors such as ochres, whites, reds and blues.
It can be seen in this painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon that the two women in the center are placed by the artist to see us from above, since they simulate that they are standing but they are lying down and this is known by the position of the arms that are behind the head its colors are less strong.
One of them covers a part of her thigh with the cloth, leaving her sex exposed to be observed, and the one who accompanies her is covered with the cloth, her hips and her private parts, which provokes looking through the cloth.
What is relevant in this work, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, are the broken lines of the curtain on the sides of the canvas, making the viewer's gaze look outside the painting.
On the right side there is evidence of an imbalance of the body in regard to the size of the head and the trunk of the lady, being very typical of cubism.
Another of the very characteristic characteristics of this painting about the Avignon ladies is the use of African masks and these two ladies, both the one with her back turned abruptly turning her head 180 degrees and showing us her face with one of these masks just like the other lady standing next to her.
On the left side of this work, the young ladies of Avignon, we can see a lady in profile and her face denotes Iberian art and her breasts are reduced to a geometric shape, specifically the triangle.
It seems to be covered with a thin pink cloth that covers from her shoulder to her hips, leaving her chest and legs exposed.
At the end of the painting, the still life is observed, which is made up of pin, grapes, pear and apple, providing a symbology to said artistic work by the use of oblique lines, demonstrating that the work can be observed from different points of view and these fruits are offered to the clients who are the spectators of the work.
It is evident in this painting of the young ladies of Avignon the background is not important and the fabrics seem to be hanging from above, the volume disappearing.
Demoiselles d'Avignon painting style
It is evident in this painting of the Avignon ladies that pre-cubism is a great avant-garde movement of the XNUMXth century, breaking the paradigm of art in history and thanks to the influence of the post-impressionist painter named Paul Cézanne, specifically in his work on bathers.
According to this analysis it is observed that the ladies of Avignon. Pablo Picasso conceives a plastic language without losing the figurative notion using geometric elements.
In addition to the superimposition of different planes on the same surface, such as the case of eyes that look at the viewer from the front but the nose is in profile, breaking the western artistic tradition.
With regard to the volume in the work Les Demoiselles de Avignon, it is reduced as well as the depth of the space, since it flattens the surfaces, giving only volume to what it is interested in highlighting through the technique of chiaroscuro.
With the intention of giving color to the work of the Avignon ladies, Pablo Picasso selects an opaque palette of colors that allows the public to pay attention to the graphic details.
As is the case with the line, the forms, the angles and the use of planes by the painter, breaking with the traditional paradigm of art known until then.
This artistic painting and the time in which it was created
This work of the Avignon ladies made by Pablo marks a before and after in the field of painting because before this work was created in 1903 it was presented at the Autumn Salon.
Where young artists protest academicism with their works, then in 1906 Cézanne dies and the exhibition space known as the Autumn Room is reused in honor of this retrospective artist.
Creating this work, Pablo Picasso was harshly criticized because he was told that he had made a mockery of modern art with the creation of the Avignon ladies, for which he decided to keep it in his studio.
After several years it is presented as a work that represents pre-cubism and this style was initiated in the hands of Braque in addition to the synthetic version of Juan Gris.
Without neglecting to take into account the African masks that came from the Congo or the Ivory Coast and were brought to the European continent by anthropologists and brought to art and painting a transformation not only in the works of Picasso but also in those of Brancusi, Matisse , Derain or Braque.
Therefore, the strength and freshness of this African art was observed, which was felt by contemporary artists, for which the Avignon ladies are women, showing greater expressiveness and a new aesthetic plan in their faces.
These two women show these African representations on their faces and the one sitting with her back turns to look at us, we can see a large arm in relation to her torso, allowing freedom of forms when expressing them in the painting of the Avignon ladies.
Regarding the still life, it is a symbol that unites the new and the old in art, since the still life is the Golden Age while Cézanne starts the new way of painting on a canvas in the XNUMXth century.
Picasso presents an old theme of art, the nude, but from a different point of view, since the soft and rounded shapes that were common in women's bodies and created by Velázquez, Goya and Titian were changed by shapes full of angles and flat.
Looking for reference in European Romanesque art and African arts, breaking with the paradigm of perspective, managing to observe a face from two points of view: the side and the front.
Breaking with the western tradition with this new style
With respect to this painting of the Avignon ladies, the artist's interest in erasing the Western tradition is observed by placing the silhouettes of the five ladies in a space that goes nowhere.
It provokes eroticism through visual violence, which is why after the First World War André Breton knows the work done by Picasso.
Recognizing in this painting of the Avignon ladies a masterpiece, it is essential to remember that Breton was the leader of surrealism and saw the threat of the unconscious in this artistic painting, since it altered art just as Albert Einstein altered science with his physics experiments. .
From a very young age Pablo Picasso showed an excellent talent for the arts and took advantage of his training because his father is an art and drawing teacher at the San Telmo School. So at the age of thirteen this artist was enrolled in the La Loja School of Arts in the city of Barcelona.
He even studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in the capital city of Madrid. In 1900 he moved to Paris where he maintained greater contact with the world of art and painting.
Another point to take into account in history is that Pablo Picasso was a staunch soldier for the Communist Party of France until his death, which he enjoyed together with his artistic life. Being the young ladies of Avignon a painting that represents cubism and occupied a place of great importance in modern art.
Conclusion concerning the Mademoiselles d'Avignon
This work is mentioned by history as the peak of this new style known as cubism where Picasso, like Braque, were precursors of this new style, altering the laws concerning perspective.
The shapes of the objects were reduced to flat geometric shapes with the intention of making an intellectual and non-emotional approach to the reality that is observed.
The young ladies of Avignon represent five naked prostitutes in a brothel near the city of Barcelona, causing interest when it was exhibited for the first time in Paris thanks to a friend of Picasso.
Because it represents a rejection of middle class society and traditional values by accepting sexual freedom through modern art imposing cubism.
After this sad response from the public, Pablo Picasso decided to leave it in his studio until a new exhibition in the twenties and then bought by the Museum of Modern Art because for this institute it is a piece of great value by this artist.
It is important to point out that this work, Las Demoiselles de Avignon, went unnoticed in this first exhibition because many visitors thought it was an ugly work and the intervention of people like Bregón and Aragón was required for this work to be bought by Jacques Doucet in 1921.
In 1937 this work about the Avignon ladies was exhibited again in an international exhibition and in 1939 he sold it to the MOMA for a price of twenty-eight thousand dollars where this work is currently located. It is said that a play with this same title was later written.
According to research, it is said that this work was not finished by Picasso, leaving it unfinished due to the lack of formal unity in the work and it allowed the painter to open the way to the Cubism movement.
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