Picasso's Les Demoiselles DAvignon and de Kooning's Woman - Essay Example

Visual Arts and Films Studies 29 January Comparing Artworks of Different Artists in Different Art Movements Art is found everywhere and is a crucial part of human life, existing in all structures of human society and every generation. Attempts to objectify ideas and beliefs began during historical times. Art serves as a way to express feelings and communicate with others. Therefore, through art, an artist is able to convey his social and personal values and his strong psychological intuition into reality. Picasso Les Demoiselles D’Avignon and Willem De Kooning are examples of artists that use art to express their feelings on certain aspects of life, and share their insights with others. Picasso`s Les Demoiselles D’Avignon is known as the first modern painting (Tubbs 166). In 1906, Pablo Picasso developed his first art for Les Demoiselles D `Avignon, a pioneering picture in Cuba (Gantefuhree-Trier 26). In his art Les Demoiselles D`Avignon, he had five faces of women; these were women of pleasure in a Spanish bordello. The women posed naked in a stage setting, before a coarsely structure with clothes that resembled curtains. They were presented frankly to the viewer; they stood upright, hence displaying their breasts with raised elbows, or their legs spread. The women’s body forms represented figures that are angular, and unproportionally arranged. Their breasts were shadowed in diamond shape, their pelvises were no more than triangles, over-dimensional hands and feet, and their faces couldn’t be interpreted in perspective. The title refers to the so-called Maisons D`Avignon, “the houses of pleasure in Avignon Street in Barcelona” (Gantefuhree-Trier 26). The painting nevertheless faced rejection from his close friends and family, because of its nakedness and carnality. This art was a good example of the African influence on modern European art. Many art historians have noticed the striking resemblance between certain African mask style and the mask-like faces of the five women (Grinker, Lubkemann, and Steiner 326). African art was used in this context, either as visual evidence for the spread of cultural traits from innovative centers, or as evidence for the social evolution of cultures; from groups which were capable of natural representation, to those which had presumably graduated to the mastery of geometric stylization and abstract forms (Grinker, Lubkemann, and Steiner 326). Picasso had found a source for a new, non-naturalistic way of representing the world and it blocks the real features of a woman. In this art, a woman is a significant symbol; Picasso represents her as a desecrated icon already torn into bits, and reveals more of rock foundation of sexiest anti-human and celebrates the control of a woman by man (Molyneux, isj.org.uk). Willem De Kooning was a painter and sculptor of Dutch birth. He was a leading figure in the abstract expression. His work is characterized by an “inherent stylelessness, resulting from the constant parallel exploration of divergent themes and techniques” (Marter 44). For two years, he worked on his art the woman 1 (1950-52, in New York), “an image which has become a totem and icon of the times” (Marter45). He was the only artist among the abstract expressonalist who continued to make use of human figures (Eversole 102). The start of woman 1 is documented in Rudolph Burckhardt`s a celebrated photographer. Woman 1 was first exhibited in 1953; this painting shocked the public and the critics. Images of the bulky women, with their frontal immediately and destructive fragmentation into gestural brushstrokes, were attacked as violent, ferocious, and sexist (Marter 45). From 1950 De Kooning got fame and success, hence making him one of the most influential artists of the period. He liberated himself from the power of women through gradual transformation into landscape (Marter 46). Woman 1 is constructed of harsh brushstrokes, which resemble slashes on the canvas. In woman 1, De Kooning shows the upper lip and protruding teeth that become the gnashing mask of a terrible mother, or goddess of death. In a language, the mouth is also a womb due to its physiological similarity to the vagina. When the focus is on the teeth rather than on the lips, it shifts from the nurturing symbol of the womb, to its aspect and a great mother (Eversole 105). The woman 1 eyes and figure are very prominent in the meaning of the work. The symbolic significance of Kooning`s woman 1 was the blending figure, and ground in his picture while dismembering, re-assembling, and distorting the figure in the process (Eversole 105). He left a sense of dynamic incompletion; as if the forms were still in process of moving and settling into definition. Kooning in his art made the woman look like the emblem of both reality and imagination (“Full Text of Willem de Kooning in East Hampton,” archieve.org). There are a number of similarities between Pablo Picassos Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, (1907) and Willem de Koonings Woman I (1950-52).In both arts, figures of women are used, while bold, black lines are used to outline their figures. Both arts grant their women an overwhelming sense of power and overt sexuality; as portrayed in the arts, women are represented in a naked way to show their sexuality and sense of power. After Pablo Picasso and Willem de Kooning displayed these works of art, they received a lot of criticism and rejection, mainly for displayed unconcealed figures of women. In both works, the figures of women are made of various shapes and seem incomplete. The women are representations of both reality and imagination in both works. Color is very important for any artist; it can be used to create what is called “tint” or a “pastel” (Dunning and Mahmoud 99). These colors are used on large area and they tend to look dry. Artist can choose to use color as a sign. Nevertheless color may be used in many ways other than the simplistic harmony. In Pablo Picassos Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, color is used to represent human bodies and different surroundings. For example, brown is used on the bodies of women, while black is used for their hair. Lines are used to race a path by moving point; they can also be used to achieve an end (Hurwitz and Day 185). Willem de Kooning uses a lot of lines to outline various features and come up with the full shape of a woman. Scale is used by artist to achieve its intention, and be used to attract the attention of the viewers (Lauer and Pentak 80). In conclusion, Pablo Picassos Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, (1907) and Willem de Koonings Woman I, (1950-52) had fine art that has been remembered for years. In their works, they express their feelings on certain aspects of life, and especially women as they share their insights with others. Despite receiving a lot of initial criticism, both works of art have come to be accepted. Both works of art also share a number of similarities that are discussed in the paper. Works Cited Dunning, W. and Mahmoud, B. Advice to Young Artists in a Postmodern Era. New York: Syracuse University Press, 2000. Print. Eversole, Finley. Art and Spiritual Transformation: The Seven Stages of Death and Rebirth. One Park Street: Inner Tradition, 2009. Print. “Full Text of Willem de Kooning in East Hampton.” archive.org. n.d. Web 29 January 2013. . Ganteführer-Trier, Anne. Cubism. New York: Taschen, 2004. Print. Grinker, R., Lubkemann, S., and Steiner, C. Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History, and Representation. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010. Print. Hurwitz, A. and Day, M. Children and Their Art: Methods for the Elementary School. California: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. Print. Lauer, D., and Pentak, S. Design Basics. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2005. Print. Molyneux, John. “A revolution in paint: 100 years of Picasso`s Demoiselles”.isj.org.u. 2 July 2007. Web 29 January 2013. . Tubbs, Robert. What Is a Number?: Mathematical Concepts and Their Origins .Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press, 2009. Print. Read More