Les Demoiselles d?Avignon

Les Demoiselles d?Avignon

As strolled through New York City?s Museum of Modern Art , one particular painting grabbed me , shook me , then through me to the ground to contemplate its awesome power. Like a whirlwind of art , Les Demoiselles d?Avignon , by Pablo Picasso , sent my emotions spinning. I felt extremely uncomfortable glancing at it , let alone staring at it closely for twenty minutes. The raw sexuality and tension that Les Demoiselles d?Avignon radiated was absolutely overwhelming yet very confusing. Other art lovers in the room also expressed discomfort as they glanced at the enormous 96x92 inch painting. Most people would only allow quick glances in between long stares at the more typical paintings on the other walls. I even heard one girl remark ?it?s so gross!!? in a nervous and uncertain voice. I had to know why Les Demoiselles d?Avignon was doing this to me and the others in the room.

Les Demoiselles d?Avignon was the product of an irritated and restless Pablo Picasso. In 1906 , Picasso began to tire of painting in the fairly traditional manner that governed his paintings up to Les Demoiselles d?Avignon. His solution was to revolutionize painting.1 Why was Picasso unsatisfied with traditional painting? Essentially Picasso?s overall dissatisfaction for sticking with anything for a long period caused him to take up the difficult quest of revolutionizing painting. He was known to constantly change the styles and mediums through which he created his art. Andre Salmon, a poet and friend Picasso, was once quoted as accusing Picasso of ?trying to force his friends to speculate on the whole problem of art every time they took a brush in their hands.? 2 This quote is very telling of Picasso?s need to change and solve artistic problems. In 1906 he abandoned the painting traditions that stretched all the way back to the Renaissance , and began Les Demoiselles d?Avignon.

Les Demoiselles d?Avignon was the product of intense study. The comments of Salmon , shed light on the intensity of the project; ?....He became uneasy , He turned his canvases to the wall and threw down his paintbrushes. For many long days and nights , he drew....Never was labor less rewarded with joy , and without his former youthful enthusiasm Picasso undertook a large canvas that was intended to be the fruit of his experiments.? 3 Every aspect o...

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...ing is an enemy!.....the fetishes were weapons. To help people avoid coming under the influence of spirits again , to help them become independent.......I understood why I was a painter....Les Demoiselles d?Avignon must have come to me that very day , but not at all because of the forms ; because it was my first exorcism painting-yes absolutely!? 15 Picasso used Les Demoiselles d?Avignon to free himself from what the world had told him was absolute. Les Demoiselles d?Avignon mocks and teases the faith that people put into their ignorance of the unknown. Picasso?s Les Demoiselles d?Avignon continues to challenge a shake people to this day.

Bibliography:

John Richardson , A Life of Picasso volume 2 1907-1917 (New York : Random House Press 1996) 15.

Arriana S. Huffington , Picasso:Creator and Destroyer . (New York : Simon and Schulster , 1988) 89.

Marie-Laurie Berndac and Bouchet , Picasso: Master of the New Idea . (New York , Abrams , 19 Kirk Varnedoe , Response to Les Demoiselles d?Avignon. (http://www.moma.org/docs/collection/paintsculpt/c40.htm , 1997)

George H. Hamilton , Painting and Sculpture in Europe 1800-1940 . (New Haven : Yale U. Press 1993) 46-47