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 painting that initiated the cubism -we have already commented the Cezánne antecedent- movement considered as the base of all the 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 “The joy of living ” by Henri Matisse, in which Picasso replaces the beautiful landscape for the dark brothel interior, the glad feminine figures in the Matisse work for prostitutes, and, over all, the “joy of living” for a dark and disturbing sensation. The palette of colours is inherited from Picasso's rose period , adding some dark outlines; reason for which many critics talks about a black period in Picasso's oeuvre. One of the pivotal works of the universal Art.