Ma Jolie by Pablo Picasso - Research Paper Example

Your F. 6 December Ma Jolie by Pablo Picasso Upon visiting the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I examined Pablo Picassos Ma Jolie artwork. I found it to be quite different than many of Picassos other works that typically have much more color and cubism effects. This artwork is much different. Description This artwork, Pablo Picassos Ma Jolie is within the European collection and is an oil painting on canvas. The size is almost a square canvas. The size of it is about 22 inches by 26 inches. It was created sometime in the year 1913-1914. There is a lot of white space surrounding what appears to be an abstract still life. Some of the objects are unidentifiable and there is little color. In this painting, color is minimal, which is different from many of Picassos other works. The main coloring is black, white and greyscale, with some green and a burnt reddish-brown color. The use of minimal color makes the one area that is in green stand out which says the paintings name, Ma Jolie. This brings emphasis and attention to the artwork. Black and white is found throughout the entire canvas with just touches of the color which indicates that the artist may have only wanted to emphasize certain areas of the artwork while others blended in and surrounded it. What I see is a conglomeration of objects scattered across a canvas. It is difficult to determine what all objects are contained in this scattering of images as they are all somewhat unidentifiable. One object looks like a column, one looks like an old-time prescription bottle, one looks like it could be a flask or maybe even a camera. One object that is brown could be a flute of some sort as it has multiple black holes that look like an instrument. It also looks like a mound of papers underneath or even on a place mat. As I previously stated, it looks like a still life in a way but in a way that is not realistic but instead more modernized and abstract in nature. Analysis I think what the artist is trying to say in this art work is simply describing things around him during the time frame in which this was painted. I think that it is none other than a grouping on a table of things that are of interest to him or describe his era. That is what I think the collection of objects are is just that: a few objects that perhaps inspired him. I think his lack of color exemplifies that he only wants certain things to stand out such as what appears to be a paper or program that says Ma Jolie. The black and white and large amount of white space helps to create that emphasis. Picasso also uses a lot of basic lines within the painting and some font. These could be labels on the objects. He uses a type of shading behind the objects and even behind the entire grouping, has a pixelated looking type of shading to show maybe a shadow on the wall. There are a lot of straight lines and angles showing precision. The objects are mostly tilted toward the left side of the canvas and there is no balance in this painting but instead all the havy objects are on the left side of the canvas anyways. Critical Interpretation Upon further research of Picasso, in regards to Ma Jolie, there is actually another painting that Picasso completed also called Ma Jolie “Woman with Guitar.” It is not the one that is on display at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It instead is very much more abstract and completely different than this one. Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881 and spent much of his time in Europe, particularly France where he died in 1973. He created over 22,000 pieces of arts using different mediums. He also had period such as the Blue Period and the Rose Period where he completed many artworks in a certain era that used tones of the specific color throughout his paintings and his palette changed not per work but after years. His Blue Period lasted from 1901 to 1904 while his Rose Period existed during 1905-1906. He was regarded a boy genius at a very young age and it seems as though he was always exploring new realms of expression as certain time frames of certain paintings all look similar and then he jumps to an entirely different type of painting altogether (PabloPicasso.org). When I conducted a Google search to find out more about Picassos art work in 1914, I found that many the images that popped up about his art in that time frame were still life paintings and it was around about the time that he started his transition into cubism. Upon looking at the Museum of Modern Art for information about Ma Jolie, I discovered a much different painting that is definitely more modern and was painted in 1912. At this time, Ma jolie meant “my pretty girl” and was part of the lyrics of a popular song that used to be performed at a music hall in Paris where Picasso visited a lot (Museum of Modern Art, 2011). This could be represented in the painting that the green object is actually a program from the music hall. After 1912, the cubism really emerged (Picasso.com, 2011). I think that Ma Jolie represents that change in his life where he was leaving behind his still lifes and portraits and shifting toward a more abstract and cubism method of creation. After finding out the information that he frequently attended the music hall in Paris, I think that the image portrayed in the painting are that of a music program which leads me to think that this is a depiction of some of his interests. Critical Judgement I think that knowing the history now of Pablo Picasso, he can make anything work. There was the time where he painted things as he saw them and this painting was right in the midst of his shift between painting a lot of still life paintings to his new futuristic and cubism paintings. He was the type of artist that found a concept and stuck on it for a few years and then moved on, creating a piece that was completely incomparable to previous paintings. I think it is difficult to see an actual message in this painting. I really think that it is an example of his interests and if you were to take a look on his dresser or table that this is what you would find. I think it further establishes who he was as a person and describes things that were important in his life. Otherwise, you cannot tell what time or place this is from. The object that appears to be a music program or something from the Parisian music hall is the only indication that correlates with a certain time frame. All other objects are so questionable that it is difficult to get any other hidden meaning you can obtain from this painting. It is abstractly subjective and is reflective of his time frame that he lived in characterizing the world and how he saw it. The use of minimal lines is an example of his transition into cubism, with the precise squaring of edges and such. His lack of color is completely unlike any of his other paintings. I think that it would be more effective of a painting to portray a message if you could actually determine what the objects in the painting were. However, that is one thing that eventually started to make Picasso one of the greatest artists of the 20th century; the fact that you could not distinguish what something was seemed to be something he started to lean toward in his later painting years. Things are not what they seem. I think this painting was a gateway obvious of his shift from his two eras of painting. Works Cited Musem of Modern Art. The Collection: Ma Jolie. 1911. New York, New York. Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=79051. PabloPicasso.org. Pablo Picassos Biography. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.pablopicasso.org. Picasso.com. Picassos Life. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.picasso.com/life/index.php. Picasso, Pablo. Ma Jolie. 1913-1914. Oil on canvas. Indianapolis Museum of Art. Read More