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Throughout the course of art history, certain works have come to define movements.
Pablo Picasso, “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” 1907 (Photo:MoMAviaWikimedia CommonsFair Use)This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met may earn an affiliate commission. Please readour disclosurefor more info.
TheMona Lisa, for example, is the face of theItalian Renaissance.TheStarry NightsymbolizesPost-Impressionism.
AndLes Demoiselles d’Avignon, a painting by modernist masterPablo Picasso, epitomizesCubism.
Take a look at these facts about Pablo Picasso’s groundbreaking painting,Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
Pablo Picasso, “Five Nudes” (Study for “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon”), 1907
The painting’s original title wasLe Bordel d’Avignon(The Brothel of Avignon).
Pablo Picasso completedLes Demoiselles d’Avignonin 1907.
Picasso aptly called the paintingLe Bordel d’Avignon(translated asThe Brothel ofAvignon).
Henri Matisse, “Bathers with a Turtle,” 1908 (Photo:Saint Louis Art MuseumviaWikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
Though this name-change clearly resonated, Picasso reportedly did not support it.
It required hundreds of preliminary sketches.
Six months prior to painting the piece, Picasso began producing hundreds of preparatory sketches.
While the figures appear aesthetically cohesive in early sketches, the final painting blends several different styles.
Why did the artist opt for so many different styles?
Picasso did not share it with the public for years.
Matisse hated it.
Though shocked by the work, most of Picasso’s friends remained supportiveexcept fellow artistHenri Matisse.
Henri Matisse, Bathers with a Turtle, 1908 (Photo:Saint Louis Art MuseumviaWikimedia CommonsPublic Domain)
