picasso african period | The Alexandria Papers

#ArtSaturday Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso
known simply as Picasso
1881-1973
Spanish painter, sculptor, and printmaker
co-inventor of Cubism, co-inventor of collage

Picasso 1904 pic.twitter.com/eYump5Gga2

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period, 1906-1909
In the early 20th century, France expanded its colonization in Africa, bringing back many pieces of African art and putting them in Parisian museums.

Fang Mask, in Louvre, Paris pic.twitter.com/ndCgf2e3RU

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Traditional African sculpture had a strong influence on many artists, including Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, along with their Parisian artist-friends.

Blue Nude, 1907, and The Dance, 1909, by Matisse pic.twitter.com/Vydv6gHpLC

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Some critics suggest that Picasso’s Desmoiselles d’Avignon (1907) was his “response” to Matisse’s Blue Nude pic.twitter.com/TtLp4YckPN

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Tales of cannibalism and exotic African kingdoms were extremely popular with the press and the public.

Head of a Sleeping Woman, 1907 pic.twitter.com/1xnEsX9hOV

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
The mistreatment of indigenous peoples in the Belgian Congo was revealed in Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness.

Bust of a Woman, 1907 pic.twitter.com/G1h11u4h9x

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
1907: Matisse shows Picasso an African mask, sparking Picasso’s interest in African art.

Female Nude, 1907 pic.twitter.com/Pg12wP0aun

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
May or June 1907: Picasso visits an exhibition of African artwork in a Paris museum and has a “revelation.”

Head of a Woman, 1907 pic.twitter.com/wXVVp3dZY9

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Traits of Picasso’s African-Influenced art include stylized human figures, vivid colors, and fragmented shapes which hinted of future Cubism.

Nude with Raised Arms (also, D’Avignon Dancer), 1907 pic.twitter.com/d2qEPPHjHx

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Three Women, 1907 pic.twitter.com/8Ugb7VZsbp

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Bust of a Woman, 1907 pic.twitter.com/kEnNQa1W6X

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Vase of Flowers, 1907-08 pic.twitter.com/W58eXwAe1P

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Picasso’s Les Desmoiselles d’Avignon (1907) is the most famous painting of his African-Influenced Period: two figures on right most clearly like African art-works. pic.twitter.com/EIacrQcfHV

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Picasso called Demoiselles “Bordel of d’Avignon.” The art critic who organized its first exhibition in 1916 changed its name to “Ladies of d’Avignon,” which Picasso never liked. Critics & the public considered the painting immoral. pic.twitter.com/s7I2opSjwc

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Picasso, Matisse, et al felt that African artworks had helped them “move beyond” the art of Naturalism, dominant since the Renaissance.

Friendship, 1908 pic.twitter.com/z05OWysQuH

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Some critics consider the art of this period a “blend” of African artwork and post-Impressionist paintings.

Pitcher and Bowls, 1908 pic.twitter.com/iVpeLcbxeT

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Some critics call the paintings of this period “proto-cubist” or say they embody “proto-cubism,” serving as a “transition” between Picasso’s African-Influenced and Cubism Periods.

Dryad, 1908 pic.twitter.com/fUIPvxNxy1

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
This Period is sometimes called Picasso’s “African Period,” “Negro Period,” or “Black Period,” the last of which is trying to sound like the Blue and Rose Periods.

Landscape with Two Figures, 1908 pic.twitter.com/nCCTrdSnxe

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Seated Woman, 1908 pic.twitter.com/Rwo17m9mGp

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Picasso was especially interested in showing the “soft, round parts” of a woman in angular ways during this period, to counter historically idealistic portrayals of women in art.

Head of a Woman, 1909 pic.twitter.com/XHQWLstyrd

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Woman and Pears (Picasso’s companion and lover, Fernande), 1909 pic.twitter.com/jF86cUYmok

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
For comparison: Two of Picasso’s portraits of Fernande, 1906 (Rose Period) and 1909 (African-Influenced Period) pic.twitter.com/yxnMe1mp35

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Bust of a Woman, 1909 pic.twitter.com/1cuXHU06yv

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
For comparison: Bust of a Woman, 1907, 1907-1908, 1909, 1909 pic.twitter.com/sneM1um553

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Harlequin, 1909 pic.twitter.com/IA9vGb8wJS

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
For comparison: Harelquin, Blue Period, 190; Harlequin, Rose Period, 1905; Harlequin, Rose Period, 1905; Harlequin, African-Influenced Period, 1909 pic.twitter.com/knkl5DO3LJ

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Houses on the Hill, Horta, 1909 pic.twitter.com/RHbb7fSEKS

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Still Life with Brioche, 1909 pic.twitter.com/y8g6CYhumW

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period

Still Life with Casket, Cup, Apples, and Glass, 1909 pic.twitter.com/ojuPZs4sVm

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
In later life, Picasso denied having been influenced by African artwork.

Self-Portrait, 1906 pic.twitter.com/GMkFA5DGPO

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
Picasso admitted that he had had a “revelation” at the museum where he had seen the African art exhibition, but denied the artwork had given him that revelation.

Self-Portrait, 1907 pic.twitter.com/5xHUwrUHe4

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
For comparison: Self-Portrait, Blue Period, 1901; African-Influence Period, 1906, 1906, 1907 pic.twitter.com/9c1nr8g5OK

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

#ArtSaturday Picasso, African-Influenced Period
In later life, instead of admitting that he had been influenced by African artwork, Picasso insisted that he had never been influenced by it: he said this period reflected “Iberian tradition.” No one knows why he said this. pic.twitter.com/02le3SHTF4

— Alexandria Constantinova Szeman, Ph.D. (@Alexandria_SZ) August 25, 2018

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