Essay on Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso will always be known as someone who thought “outside the box.” He was a pioneer in artistic world, shunning the preceding artistic ideas of his peers. He created a completely new style of art, cubism, and it was radical, new and paved the way for many others to express themselves through cubes. However, he went through two periods in his career that are also very famous. The first was his “Blue period” in which the paintings were characterized by many shades of blue. These works depicted the lower class such as, outcasts, beggars, and prostitutes. The second portion of his career was the “Rose period.” Pinks and beiges dominated these works. They included saltimbanques (circus people) and clowns, who all seem to be strangely inactive. He never really had any one style of painting and some of them are hard neatly fit into one category.

One of his works that does not quite fit into one category is “Sylvette” (1954), which could is a cross between his early cubism works and his later works. Either way it can be classified as post-impressionistic. This is an oil on canvas painting, and is done mainly in gray, black and white. The focal point of the painting is Sylvette, but not Sylvette entirely; you are drawn to her face. Her face grabs your attention because of the shading of almost half of her face and the fact she doesn’t have a mouth. The shadow on her face might suggest that women have two sides to them, the side that is prim and proper and the side that will rip your heart out without an ounce of forgiveness. Many scholars think that Picasso was a sexist, so my theory is that he left her mouth off trying to show that women are better when they don’t speak. She also looks uncomfortably straight and proper with her hands politely crossed. This may be Picasso’s thought of his ideal woman, proper and without a mouth.

The colors also suggest a very serious tone by Sylvette. There really isn’t a set light source in the painting. The shadow on her face points to a light source from the top left and the shadow behind her suggest a light source from the right of Picasso. “Sylvette” is rather balanced. There is a good amount of white space that seems to be evenly distributed throughout the painting.

The subject matter of this painting is very appropriate for Picasso at the time. His works usually seem to be an expression of what, or who, is going through his life at the time. Sylvette was obviously his love interest for a period, but she might have been for only a short time. The colors (gray and black) of this painting point more towards a lost love than a new love that would display vibrant colors. Therefore, it may be that she broke his heart after being a loving girlfriend, hence the two-face.

I’m no art critic but I know what I like and I like this. I never realized that something as simple as this painting could reveal so much more. Coming into this assignment, I was not terribly excited about art but I think I may be developing a passion for it.