Pablo Picasso is a genius of his time. He gave the world many masterpieces that today cause great admiration among mankind. The painting "Avignon Maidens" was no exception, and it is precisely about her that will be discussed in this article.
Further it will be possible to find out how the artist created this magnificent work, where he drew inspiration and what inspired such a very extraordinary decision in painting. A detailed description of this canvas will also be provided.
History of the work
Pablo Picasso's painting "Avignon Maidens" is the artist's first experience in painting canvases in the direction of Cubism. The author worked on this work for one year (from 1906 to 1907).
Initially, Pablo Picasso wanted to name his work “The Philosophical Brothel”, but when the artist’s friend Andre Salnoy saw the picture, he proposed another name - “Avignon Maidens”. It became the final for this masterpiece.
Parisian bohemians and Picasso's friends accepted his work ambiguously. For example, Matisse initially emphasized that "Avignon Maidens" are a new key to the development of painting. But after some time, he began to violently protest the work and point out that the picture has no place in the visual arts. But Georges Braque liked the picture so much that, inspired by it, he created the famous work called “Naked”. Indifferent to this picture were also Robert Delaunay and Andre Derain. The influence of Avignon Maidens is clearly visible in the work of these artists.
13 years after painting, Picasso sold it to collector Jacques Douce, and for the first time the work was presented to the general public only at the exhibition in 1937.
What inspired Pablo Picasso to create this picture?
There is a suggestion that the inspiration for the creation of the painting "Avignon Maidens" came to Picasso after he happened to visit the exhibition of the Iberian sculpture, which was held in 1906 in Paris. But art critics suggest that the inspiration could serve as a picture of Paul Cezanne, entitled "Bathers."
The plot of the picture
The plot for the painting "Avignon Maidens" served as the recollections of Picasso about the brothel, which was located in the Avignon quarter in Barcelona. The first sketches were completely unlike the final version of the work - on them the artist depicted a scene of seduction in a brothel. However, while painting, Picasso decided to depict only 5 nude silhouettes of girls and a still life.
Description of the artwork “Avignon girls”
Pablo Picasso introduced to all of humanity certain monsters who have masks instead of human faces, and in their figures hardly any gender is indicated. In the nature of these virgins, an aggressive message and exciting expression are simultaneously reflected. The images written by the artist are very strange and differ from each other.
The silhouettes depicted on the left side of the picture are similar to Egyptian and Assyrian motifs. Women in the center clearly resemble murals of Romanesque churches in Catalonia and are distinguished by mystical lyricism. But the faces of the girls written on the right side of the work are associated with African mysticism and it seems that they are about to complete their awesome magic ritual.
It is worth noting that the female silhouettes in African masks present in the picture are directly related to the exhibition that Picasso visited in Paris in 1907 (it was devoted to the life and national culture of African peoples).
In his picture, he portrayed all the mystery of female figures, which at the same time alert and attract the audience. As many critics and art historians have noted, this way of transmitting information through the visual arts is a hallmark of Pablo Picasso.
"Avignon Maidens" - the role of paintings in painting
The artist at the time of work on the painting set himself the task of combining grotesque and expressive deformation of figures on the canvas, as well as drawing a three-dimensional composition so that it was divided into geometric components. In general, we can say that the master coped with this task very well, but in addition to this, he also managed to saturate the figures depicted with aggression and power.
Pablo Picasso portrayed the "Avignon Maidens" in ocher pink shades that are on a bluish background. It can be concluded that in this work the artist combined the experience of his previous periods in creativity (the so-called “blue” and “pink”). Undoubtedly, this work has the traditional manner of performance by Picasso, but at the same time, the innovation that the artist introduced into the visual arts is clearly marked. The interweaving of these two quintessences carries allegorism and some kind of cipher in the plot of the picture.
Today, the work of Pablo Picasso Avignon Maidens is kept in the New York Museum of Modern Art and delights viewers with its unusualness.