Mistress Studied - Le Reve by Pablo Picasso

Picasso deserves some credit, especially this painting, "Le Reve." During the height of his career, he realized that no matter what he painted the world would fawn over it. Now, some fewer mortals may have begun to laugh and started to churn out as many works for the hungry masses to gobble up. Picasso though turned back to the art community and started studying what his contemporizes were doing. He then would bring elements of what he learned into this own work- something that traditionally has been known to destroy artist’s careers.

What was even more interesting is that Picasso was willing to adopt elements of paintings styles that had already died and receives little acclaim at the time- as Fauvism. It was called Fauvism as a way to disparage the artists as it meant wild beast; it was a contrast to the civilized men (and their art styles) of the Renaissance.

Le Reve, translated to English as "The Dream," is a large break from his standard style. When people think of Pablo Picasso, you usually get the words ‘cubism’ and ‘blues period’ to pop up after a quick discussion. Cubism, not oddly uses muted colors and squares to depict the world. And his blues period was subjected in heavy realism that was focused on poverty and the despair of the human condition. Picasso can be most widely linked to the human emotion of suffering as well, again from his blues age and his series of paintings of weeping women and the effects of war. Perhaps this is why Le Reve is so fascinating with its bright primary colors, round shapes and erotica elements.

Le Reve interestingly uses a background to link it to the real world. The woman is present in a distinct room, in a chair- unlike the earlier works that were meant to evoke a universal response via a lack of specificity. The woman herself lacks specifics, however. She is milky white with blonde hair, enough of a nod to his mistress, but also a common template that many women can be linked to. She is a poetically nude with half a breast peeking out from her flesh toned clothes, a comment on the natural sexuality of all women. An adornment of civilization, a necklace, mimics her form. And perhaps most interestingly, is her face. At first glance the woman looks like she is reclining her neck and facing the view with both eyes closed; however, focusing on it for a moment reveals that the top half of her face is an erect penis. It is not done to be vulgar but rather a mere extension of her identity. From this painting, it is clear that Picasso did not hold contempt for this woman for being sexual. We can see that she and her sisters were beautiful to this man and the reacts they elicited were as fair as they were.

While Picasso's original Le Reve is obviously unattainable, admirers may obtain Art Wall Le Reve The Dream by Pablo Picasso Rolled Canvas Art through places like Amazon. The world of Art is spectacular, who knows what will evolve in another 100 years. In my opinion however, abstract art rules right now.