Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was one of the greatest artistic geniuses in history. His name is synonomous with the artistic movement he made famous- Cubism. Jeune Femme was painted after Picasso had reached his fame in the 30’s and is not in the cubist style, rather it is post-impressionistic. It was in this period of his life that Picasso painted the horrors of war, reflecting his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. The most famous of these paintings is the monumental “Guenica”. It is also during this period that Picasso felt free to paint his personal life, such as the many women he was known to be involved with. Jeune Fille is an example of this side to Picasso’s work. The colors in this lithograph reflect Picasso’s like of half-tone textures (The original proofs of this piece were zincographs to produce this effect).
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Pablo Picasso, the most famous artist in the world by the late 1930s, epitomized the modern superstar artist. No artist before him had a mass audience, multiple millions of people. Along with Marcel Duchamp, Picasso is considered the most influential contemporary artist of the 20th-century, with contributions to virtually every art movement.
His personal life greatly influenced his works. Known as superstitious, sarcastic, self-aggrandizing, often a lousy father, and contemptuous toward women – though admittedly charming – he hated being alone and maintained numerous mistresses in addition to two wives. These women, often his subjects, correspond directly to his “period” changes (Blue, Rose, Cubist, etc).
Purdue’s lithograph “Jeune Femme” portrays Picasso’s young lover Françoise Gilot. Picasso was 62, she 21, when they met. During the Gilot years (1944-53) Picasso achieved much artistically, particularly in his graphic works – inventing experimental new methods for working in stone lithography at Mourlot’s studio (see Chagall).
Gilot became the only lover to leave Picasso, allegedly for abuse/infidelities. Years later (1961), encouraged by Picasso, she divorced her husband to marry Picasso – intent on securing inheritance rights for their children, Claude and Paloma. Upon Gilot’s divorce, Picasso married another lover instead – revenge against Gilot for leaving. Gilot’s book, Life with Picasso, sold over a million copies. The film adaptation “Surviving Picasso” (1996) stars Anthony Hopkins.
In old age, struggling with impotency – a difficult change for someone largely personified by sexual obsessions – Picasso redoubled his artistic output, making more work than ever. The final images mix together earlier styles and often refer to masterworks (Velazquez, Goya, Courbet). Once dismissed as pornographic fantasies of a one-time genius, today many regard the late period as ahead of its time and a precursor to Neo-Expressionism. His life work totals some 13,500 paintings, 134,000 prints/illustrations, and 300 sculptures."