Painting Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Research Paper Example

24 December Art ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’ is a renowned painting, created with oil paints, by famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso (1881-1973). Picasso has been acclaimed to be one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century with his surreal and unique style of painting, gathered from absolutely anywhere with the help of mere inspiration. He has been widely known for founding the Cubist movement and has contributed to art by providing some of the best paintings the world has ever seen. Picasso was born on 25th October, 1881 in Spain and trained under his father, as well as at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. Picasso has been very well known for assisting in the definition of the revolutionary movement in plastic art which have helped greatly in painting, making sculptures and ceramics etc. Along with George Braque, Picasso founded the avant garde movement of Cubism which has helped to revolutionise European art altogether. Cubist art is cut up into different stories; each stroke of the brush speaks of a greater and more profound dimension. The various objects within the canvas are broken up and re-assembled in a supposedly analytical manner, so that the viewer can view the piece of art from various aspects and not just from one single view. This helps to provide the painting with various levels and depths and not just a single plane or background to fall back upon. The main characteristic of this style movement is that it allows the painting to penetrate into different subjects within the same picture, allowing it to create the illusion of a lot of unexplained space left on the canvas. Picasso, through this particular painting, paved the way for the Cubist movement, as this painting helped other painters, like Matisse and Duchamp, to follow suit and create similar works of art, giving way to the creation of the ‘collage’. A number of sculptors then began to make cubist sculptures which led the world into understanding three dimensional pieces of art. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was originally titled ‘The Brothel of Avignon’ because it depicts five prostitutes from a brothel in Avignon, in Barcelona. The five women have very disjointed shapes and speak explicitly of the cubist style of painting that Picasso was influenced by. They appear to be conventionally very feminine and have been inculcated into the museum of modern art in the modern day and age. This work is a masterpiece after having created hundreds of sketches and paintings in order to gear up for the final work of art. Picasso was also influenced by African and Iberian tribalism while creating this piece because two of the women in the picture can be seen wearing these masks. According to the painter, one of the main influences for making this masterpiece was El Greco’s ‘Opening of the Fifth Seal.’ The main ironic aspect about this painting was that it was not immediately accepted by society because of the overt detail that it carried. The painting has been rumoured to have stayed in Picasso’s studio for several years and during that time only his dealers and close friends were able to see it. Only very few people remained supportive of the painting because it depicted prostitutes so openly; thus, the painting was only understood as a revolutionary work of art much later when it began to incept the path for modern art. Each figure within the painting has a different shape and size and the reason for this was looking at women with different perspectives. Two women on each side of the painting seem to be pushing back a curtain in order to reveal space for the other three, striking erotic postures and poses. The countenances on their faces are jagged and lopsided, indicating a very rudimentary yet ambiguous feeling. Two women within the painting have been made to wear African masks which threaten the onlooker. This probably seems to have been an indication of the asymmetrical angle that every woman possesses within herself, which is exploited by men not caring about their qualms. When the painting had just been made, its lucidity led to a shock within conventional society and Picasso, thus, did not want the painting to have any detail attached to it for fear of people misconstruing the meaning altogether. Thus, all he gave away was the name of the street Avignon in Barcelona, which was famous for its brothels. The work is a 3D composition on a 2D background, because in reality, it is a simple oil painting, however, made in a grotesque enough way to remind the audience of an outcoming illusion. The work falls under the cubist genre, one of the most vital pieces of art in the genesis of modern art. The painting has also been a source of sexual pleasure for a number of people around the globe. At the time that it was made, sexually transmitted diseases were rampant in Paris, also providing another reason for Picasso not to release it for fear of ostracizing him from society. The painting consists of a number of jagged lines coinciding with each other at various stretches, show casing the contours of the different figures present on the canvas. Each figure is twisted and partially blended into the other, creating an ample amount of confusion within the picture, which might be mistaken for atmospheric space. In actuality, the picture is a two dimensional outlook, abandoned by the closed perspectives of most people living at the time. When looking at the aspect of light, as one views the painting, it appears to have absconded from various ends and sides; this may be regarded as a chiaroscuro as the light enters the different blocks which have been painted to give a three dimensional feeling to the figures. The painting helped to become part of a larger social structure because it made people come out of their cocoons and speak of sexual misgivings and favours on a more relative basis. The painting is a true masterpiece, coming out from various angles and stretches, trying its best to connect with every ring of society and its plethora of social issues. On some level, it might even have a political objective, aiming to construe all races as one, with the help of the masks drawn on two women within the painting. In conclusion, the painting talks about a story being told through the misshapen eyes of the women; it is almost as if they are trying to voice their opinions through the suppression that they have been put through by the patriarchal society they have been living within. They are forced to sell themselves to men in order to get by life and make something of themselves. The masks further help to portray the sadness that they are trying to cover up in order to continue doing what they have been monotonously doing with their bodies and selves. The plate of fruit kept in front may also help to depict how they live a sheltered life because of the services that they offer to people, secretly, in the vicinity of the night. Also, perhaps, the painting speaks about women in general, of all various ethnic backgrounds and does not discriminate on the basis of race, thus, the use of the masks. Works Cited "MoMA / The Collection / Pablo Picasso. Les Demoiselles D'Avignon. Paris, June-July 1907." MoMA / The Museum of Modern Art. Web. 24 Dec. 2011. . Read More