Art Beat  – A Birthday Celebration at MoMA

– By Mary Brennan Gerster –

I know that as an art historian I am expected to revere the work of Pablo Picasso. But I feel the same way about Picasso's art as I do about the plays of Harold Pinter and the so-called musicals of Stephen Sondheim — I recognize the technical skill and genius, but I don't love the work. The exception to that is Picasso's serene and moving Woman in White, in the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My issue is with the calculated coldness in so much of his work. Despite this, one of his seminal works, Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, is a canvas to which attention must be paid.

This work marks the beginning of Cubism, which in turn opened a cavernous door for artists. MoMA has mounted a small and intriguing exhibition celebrating the 100th birthday of Les Demoiselles D'Avignon, painted by Picasso in 1907. Included is a timeline about the painting, some of the over 100 preparatory drawings he did and smaller paintings related to the larger work. It is a mini-art history lesson about a revolutionary work in the history of art.

This eight-foot square canvas is different from Picasso's original idea, which was to have depicted two male patrons along with five “young women” from a brothel on Avignon Street in Barcelona. Cezanne's Les Grande Baigneuses was an influence. The African tribal masks Picasso saw at the Musee Ethnographique du Trocadero in Paris, played a major role in this canvas and others he produced.

The five women are each portrayed in a different style, almost an exercise in techniques. The two central figures have Iberian faces; the one in the upper right has an African mask as her head and a very Cubist body. The figure on the far left (as we face it) is Egyptian in stance and profile. They do not relate to each other at all, instead staring out directly at the viewer.

The paint is done with thick, sure brush strokes and any one area isolated is a painting in itself. The small still life in the lower right, the folds of the drapery surrounding each woman and any single figure are all depicted with the confidence we expect from this master. The colors are earthy and, as curator John Elderfield said, Picasso combines his pink and blue periods here creating tenderness amidst the savagery of the lives of the prostitutes.

Elderfield also told me that he has a theory that the hand in the upper left above the Egyptian figure may be a painting of Picasso's own hand. It seems unconnected to the figure itself, and is at the right height for a person 5'2” to have painted it. Picasso was apparently a short man, about 5', 2”, and did not want that information broadcast. An interesting tidbit to contemplate, making him very human.

When first displayed in 1916, there was outrage over the scandalous subject and style. Matisse saw it as a hoax and believed that Picasso was trying to paint the fourth dimension. He kept it rolled in his studio for years, until it was purchased, in 1924, by Jacques Doucet, for 30,000 francs. In 1937, it was shown at Petit Palais in Paris and bought by MoMA through the efforts and insight of Alfred Barr. MoMA sold Degas' Jockeys on Horseback to buy the Picasso. I am sure that move caused quite a furor at the time, but Barr's foresight has made this work the cornerstone of MoMA's collection.

This work paved the way for Cubism and all the “isms” to follow, and rightly deserves a birthday party honoring its place in art history. The time you spend with this will be well worth your while. The accompanying sketches and paintings are a true lesson in what goes into a great work of art. In the gallery adjacent to this, you can enjoy several other Picasso works, such as Seated Bathers (1930) and Girl Before a Mirror (1932) to visually understand where this work led.

MoMA is located at 11 West 53 St. The museum is closed on Tuesday and free Friday afternoon from 4 to 8 p.m. For further information, call 212-708-9400 or visit www.moma.org.