Les demoiselles D'Avignon - Picasso

context of production

- born in 1881 in spain and moved to paris 1900; influenced by fauvism and symbolism - pivotal work in his career as he moves away from Western conventions of representation and perspectival space to cubism - uses ugliness to confront the viewer - saw african artefacts in Paris ethnographic museum in 1907 - impressed by the power of the 'primitive'

artistic influences for les demoiselles d'Avignon

-el greco -manet -cezanne (tache brushtrokes and geometric forms) -african and tribal art -pre historic art from iberia and altamira -matisse

historical context for Les Demoiselles d'avignon

-french imperialism + colonianialism meant it had been aquiring colonis in north + west africa and could provide artifacts to the ethnographical collections picasso had seen. also lead to the view of them as primitive -the private collectors art market meant art no longer had to serve the church or state and created the idea of art for arts sake -paris was a hub for avant-garde artists

subject matter of les demoiselles D'Avignon

-intended to be an allegory for the hazards of visiting brothels such as STDs (originally titled The Wages of Sin) -reminds the viewer of their own mortality and the cost of pleasure - undermines the traditional depiction of the female nude and sensuality - i.e. Manet's Olympia - 'primitive' culture - mask-like shapes

Picassos relationship with sex (les demoiselles d'avignon)

-later infamous for his mistresses -inspired by a brothel he visited in Barcelona - studies for this show Picasso entering the brothel as a medical student holding a skull

Context of Picasso's life when les demoiselles D'Avignon was painted

-pivotal work as he moved from western conventions of representation and perspective space to cubism -deliberately uses ugliness and untrained technique in combination with a traditionally sensuous theme to confront the viewer

Inspirations for les demoiselles d'Avignon

-the female nude and sexuality subverting usual associations of grace and beauty (MANET'S OLYMPIA) -THE THREE GRACES here referenced ironically as a classical subject matter depicted by Boticelli etc -PRIMITIVISM shown in the masks as an alternative to western canons of beauty. visited PARIS ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM in 1907.

subverts sensualising eroticism with aggressiveness

1) squatting figure in bottom right - enclosed space almost claustrophobic 2) replaces sensuous curves with jagged forms 3) outward gaze 4) anatomical distortion - faces irregular

what date was Les Demoiselles D'Avignon made in

1907

space

3D fractured planes - space is palpable

Space: deconstruction

Deconstruction of the 3D form from shadowing and placing fragments back in the 2D

how does Manet influence les demoiselles D'Avignon

OLYMPIA -contraversial uses of the nude -formal, confrontational, self-aware -awareness of prostitution

Who made Les Demoiselles D'Avignon

Pablo Picasso

Curtain

acts as a stage-like curtain. Also alludes to the sensuous subject matter.

How does El Greco influence les demoiselles D'Avignon

from the angular jagged forms and tone of the drapery and distorted pictorial space. elongated bodies and anatomical distortion. also spanish

light

some highlight and sense of illusion