Les Demoiselles d’Avignon

“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” painted by Pablo Picasso in 1907, is a monumental and revolutionary work that shattered traditional artistic conventions and is widely considered a foundational piece of Cubism. This large oil painting depicts five nude female prostitutes from a brothel on Carrer d’Avinyó (Avignon Street) in Barcelona. Breaking from the classical portrayal of nudes, Picasso rendered the figures with sharp, angular, and fragmented forms, abandoning perspective and traditional modeling. The two figures on the right wear mask-like faces, influenced by Iberian sculpture and African tribal masks, which challenge Western ideals of beauty and representation. The painting’s aggressive and confrontational nature, combined with its radical stylistic departure, initially shocked viewers and even some of Picasso’s close associates. “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” marks a pivotal moment in art history, signaling a radical shift towards abstraction and paving the way for Cubism and other avant-garde movements of the 20th century.