Aestheticism In Pablo Picasso's Girl Before A Mirror

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Aesthetic Expression Paper

Throughout the 20th century, aesthetic expressions have been admired and observed by everybody. Whether your favorites are a film, a painting, a play, or even a song, beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. The expression where I found beauty and truth is in the painting, “Girl before a mirror” painted by Pablo Picasso in 1932. Through my eyes, there are certain elements that affect its aesthetic value, these include the origins of which it came, the overall characteristics of the painting, how the time and place influenced Picasso, and the consequences and influences that this painting has created throughout the world since.
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter whose artwork had largely contributed and altered …show more content…

Her arms are stretched out holding the sides of the mirror as she observes her features closely and in depth with “narcissistic exploration,”(Rosenblum,1). A wide range of colors and shapes contour her face and body, making her on one side of the mirror appear to be young and healthy, while on the other side, dark and not very pleased with what she sees. Both bodies are riddled with stripes of colors as to declare and emphasize that they’re the same person. “ It colors the face in chalky lilac tones; it replaces the eye’s almond shape with a maroon circle; it transforms the flush upon the cheek into an orange sickle; and it covers forehead and upper portions of the nose with a jarring carmine shade of red,”(Gottlieb, 509). The reflection of her figure creates a transition in the aura of the painting, making the appearance of the girl change from how she actually appears, in contrast to how she perceives she looks in the reflection. While Marie’s face is painted very smoothly, the image reflected in the mirror has a lot more texture, expressing more ridged skin. Instead of her nose being nice and elongated, she sees it as very pointy. Instead of seeing her body as proportional and as perfectly drawn as Picasso painted it, she sees her body in …show more content…

Picasso changed the way in which people viewed and interpreted aesthetic expressions. With his style of cubism, he was able to captivate the minds and hearts of millions. He also led the way for modern artist by being a huge inspiration for what every artist want to achieve. The consequences of Girl before a mirror spreaded throughout the whole world, and received positive critics in The Museum of Modern Art in New York where it is located today.
Ultimately, everybody has an aesthetic expression that they adore and find beauty and truth in. My aesthetic expression has provided various key elements that constitute it to be considered as a revolutionary piece in history. As a result of the origins of which it came, the overall characteristics of the painting, how the time and place influenced Picasso, and the consequences and influences that this painting has created throughout the world since, this piece will forever be recognizable and remembered. Works

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