PABLO PICASSO: “Les demoiselles d'Avignon”, 1907 - oil on canvas, 243,9 - 233,7 cm. - New York, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
This work is arguably the most important painting of the 20th century, the starting point of the cubism - we have already commented the 'Cezánne antecedent' -, the movement considered as the base of all modern and contemporary painting. This painting impressed Georges Braque and began the friendship between both painters.
As in almost all capital paintings in the history of Art, “Les demoiselles d'Avignon” have an infinity of interpretations, some of them contradictory. Anyway, many critics agree in considering this painting as a reply to Henri Matisse's “The joy of life”, in which Picasso replaces the beautiful landscape for the interior of a dark brothel; the glad feminine figures of the Matisse work are here prostitutes. There is no “joy of life” in this painting, just a dark and disturbing sensation. The colours are inherited from Picasso's rose period, adding some dark outlines; reason for which many critics talk about a "black period" in Picasso's oeuvre. One of the pivotal works of Western Art.
Text: G. Fernández, www.theartwolf.com
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