In the Pushkin Museum of Moscow there are many wonderful paintings that amaze the imagination of true art lovers and simple sightseers. Artists Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Chagall - these names are forever included in the treasury of world painting. And “The Girl on the Ball” (Picasso’s painting) is one of those ingenious works that you can be fascinated by for hours, enjoying the magical play of color and light, and the amazing skill of the great artist. This picture is like a fairy tale, which I want to believe in, in spite of any global difficulties of human life.
"Pink" period
Each work of a great artist has a story. This picture is no exception. Young Pablo Picasso, settling at the beginning of the last century in Paris, comprehended the world of bohemia. In his poor art workshop in winter even the water froze - it was so cold. And on Montmartre often turned off the electricity. But on the door of the workshop flaunted the inscription "The meeting place of poets", pleasing to the eye. The world of bohemia, rejected by the townsfolk, firmly enters the life of Pablo Picasso. And the theme of kinship and universal human relations is in the artist’s painting at that time. The main characters, the characters of the paintings are wandering circus performers, comedians, artists and ballerinas, who, contrary to public taste, attracted the attention of young talent, aroused genuine participation and interest in it.
"Girl on the ball", a picture of Picasso
At that time (1905), the artist is often inclined to choose the most ordinary subjects for his works. The characters of this picture - strolling acrobats - capture the imagination of Pablo Picasso: a girl on the ball, fragile and tender, an athlete who embodies masculinity and reliability. But the author does not just copy life. He recreates it with his art, skill. And the work “Girl on the Ball” (Picasso’s painting of the “pink” period) is a vivid example of this! It is as if we see dreams, love, devotion and tenderness, strength and courage. Necessity to each other, since the work of stray circus performers is dangerous and not easy, but they get pennies for it.
Pablo Picasso's painting “Girl on the Ball”: plot
The canvas depicts a seated adult male acrobat and a fragile girl who gracefully balances on a ball. It is in contrasting these two figures, their plasticity and massiveness, grace and strength, that many critics see the highlight of the work. The theme of friendship, inner community and mutual assistance is also seen in the work. The artist is attracted by the language of contrasts and plastic, contributing to the creation of harmony in the composition of the picture. Indeed, if you imagine for a moment just a balancing girl, then without the tacit support of a circus performer, she can instantly lose her balance by slipping off the ball. The man’s leg bent at right angles is perceived figuratively as a kind of support for the fragile figure of the girl.
All the magic permeating the work of the great master is based on the magic of lighting, the harmony of colors, the accuracy of strokes. It is as if the figures do not have a feeling of stiffness, and the space of the canvas is spread and filled with air. At the same time, the author also uses coarsening of the texture of painting, simplification of style, which manifested itself in earlier years.
Despite the apparent rudeness of the image, the work carries a light and delicate mood, described in pink and blue, with shades of ashen. These tones additionally give the impression of a romantic reality of life.
The history of the painting after writing
It is known that Pablo Picasso in 1906 was pleased when the collector Vollard bought from him as many as 30 paintings for only two thousand francs. After that, the canvas was in the collection of the famous Gertrude Stein, and in the collection of Canweiler. The industrialist collector and philanthropist Morozov bought it in 1913 for already 16 thousand. So “Girl on the Ball,” a Picasso painting, ended up in Russia, where it still remains in the Pushkin Museum.