Pablo Picasso
Creating a brand new way of making art, Picasso’s style of painting uses the term innovation in a new way. In 1907/08, Picasso (as well as Braque) created the style of cubism in order to make their artwork. Using oil paint, Picasso created a painting named “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (the young ladies of Avignon) in the style of cubism; making the style of the painting innovative rather then the painting itself as the style was created by Picasso.
I have linked this piece of art to my chosen subject painting. Firstly, the painting itself was created in 1907 yet there was an issue with the painting when Picasso showed it to other artists or friends as there was a sense of provocation when the artwork was seen. It sparked talks as the painting depicts prostitutes in sexual postures, simplified down to a 2D painting made up of geometrical shapes. Which I found very interesting as the innovative way of creating this painting in the new way of cubism, created a lot of talk amongst people which resulted in the painting not being exhibited until 1916.
When looking at the way he uses these geometrical shapes to create the people within the painting, it shows how important this new style of art would become as it portrays people in a completely new way that no artist had done before, making people identify what is happening in the image with a little more struggle. The fact that the translation and simplified version of naked women, even in a cartoon like manner, outlines how controversial it was as even though people weren’t looking at the real naked features of a woman, they still thought the painting was very risky. Which obviously was reflected through Picasso as he chose not to exhibit it until 1916.