Cubism And Picasso
Picasso’s development toward cubism reached
its climax with the monumental
justly celebrated Demoiselles d’Avignon
(1906). This painting, named for a
brothel in Barcelona’s Avignon Street,
depicts, in a highly stylized form,
five angular nude or partially draped
women grouped around an arrangement of
fruit. This final, condensed version,
developed through many preparatory works,
was attained by gradual
simplifications and eliminations of an originally
conspicuous subject matter.
1. LINEAR (SHARP CONTOURS) VS PAINTERLY (LINES ARE
INDISTINCT Picasso
shows a rethinking of the human body in Les Demoiselles. This
ranges from a
simplified naturalism, (in the centre figures) to an increased
sense of
fragmentation in to angular forms, each of which appears to have
an
independent existence. Such disjunction of body parts challenged the
standards
by which the human body had been constructed before. In
synchronicity, the
background elements of draperies and wall were fragmented,
aligned with the
figural handling. 2. PLANE (SPACE BULIT UP OF
SEMI-INDEPENDENT PLANES) VS
RECESSION (UNIFIED BY DIAGONAL PLANES) It is
quite difficult to determine
whether Les Demoiselles should be catogorized as
the "plane" or recession"
option for the following reasons: Picasso shifted
the point of view at will
heads, noses and eyes are seen simultaneously in
profile and full front. In
other words, the vision of the spectator is
enlarged to include a number of
different views. As thought they were moving
form point to point, looking up
then down. Modern studies of perception have
shown that this is the way one
forms a visual image of an object. Not from
one fixed all encompassing glance,
but from an infinite number of momentary
glimpses, formulated and unified into a
whole by the spectator’s mind. Cubism
introduced into painting not only a new
kind of space, but also another
dimension, time. Therefore one may conclude that
Les Demoiselles is
neither built up of semi-independent planes nor unified by
diagonals. 3.
ABSOULTE CLARITY (DESCIBED OBJECTS) VS RELATIVE CLARITY
(SUGGESTED
OBJECTS) It is also quite difficult to determine whether this
painting depicts"absolute clarity" or "relative clarity." One might suggest that
Les
Demoiselles demonstrates "absolute clarity" since all objects are in
plane
sight, meaning none of the figures/objects are clouded by shadow.
Yet,
"relative clarity" is also suggested. Although the figures/objects
may
easily be viewed, it can, at times be hard to determine what exactly is
being
observed, (ie. drapery) 4. COLOUR + LIGHT ADHERES TO FROM VS COLOUR +
LIGHT IS
COLOUR REFRACTED/REFLECTED There is no suggestion of either
light or shadow,
with the exception of the figure in the upper right corner
who appears to be
engulfed in shadow. 5. POTENTIALLY LIMITLESS TIME VS SINGLE
DRAMATIC MOMENT
Since Les Demoiselles depicts a brothel scene one would
assume that a series a
lounging nude females would be common place, therefore
depicting a potentially
limitless period of time.