Art Captions

Author notes

0036. Woman in Gray.

CornTown

on Feb. 19, 2010

By Pablo Picasso. (1881-1973)
Circa. 1942
Cubism/Return to Order

After World War I, the lives of practically everyone in Europe had changed. Many of the early 20th century artists felt this impact greatly and knew that their art could no longer just be about abstract and philosophic ideas. It had to say something about the changing world that was relevant about the ever changing world. Many styles such as cubism were abandoned by their founders in order to create a new kind of classical art; one that told a story in the classical sense, but which also seemed up to date.

The painting “Woman in Gray” is of Picasso's wife Dora Maar. Rather than his usual abstracts with bright colors and soft features, here we are given a figure within a dark chiaroscuro, equal to the color of the sky after an air raid. The figure; she is displayed as sharp and burning with angry, almost ready to bite the next person she comes across. This truly is a terrifying painting.