Pablo Picasso’s The Red Armchair

In The Red Armchair art masterpiece of Pablo Picasso, there are bizarre shapes, figures, lines and curves. One of the most prominent features of the painting is the face of a human – one facing towards the looker’s direction and the other on side view. Aside from the red armchair in which the subject rest, another remarkable feature is a figure of a woman securely sitting. There are also some shapes that form a woman’s breast, moon-like arms, and a belt. The shades of colors that were applied in the canvass resemble earth toned colors, predominantly shades of brown. In general view, it is an abstract portrait of a woman.

The medium used in this artwork is oil. Similar to other painter of his time, Picasso widely uses oil in canvass. Realistically speaking, the subject of the work is a woman. Picasso is undeniably obsessed with woman as subject. This is found evident in his artworks involving Dora Maar in Dora Maar with Cat and Marie-Thérèse Walter on Girl Reading at a Table. According to Nochlin (1998), “the female object seems to preexist on some level in the conscious or unconscious mind of the artist: painting savagely reveals the icon, elaborates and embroiders on it, with sometimes obsessive iterations, but the image was always already there, waiting for pictorial expression.” Meanwhile, Baudrillard (1997) stated that the red armchair is virtual shape of the human body that is no longer there, but the trace of which remains like an elliptic smile makes it interesting and intriguing.

Based on the definition of art, Picasso’s The Red Armchair is his abstraction of a woman. It is the artist’s own visual interpretation of an image of a woman seated in a red armchair. Interestingly, Picasso’s use of eclectic yet weird shapes and figures makes it artfully presentable. In the viewer’s point of view, one will think where does the woman facing – front or side ways? Because art is something that expresses someone’s feeling and outlook, it is considered that this artwork is Picasso’s manifestation of a woman.

This artwork is classified as a product of cubism. In cubist artworks like Picasso, the subjects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form (Cauman 2001). Instead of portraying objects from one viewpoint, the artist presents it from a variety of multitude of viewpoints and the reason behind this is to present the piece in a greater context (Karmel 2003). The Red Armchair uses monochrome brownish colors evident in his analytic cubism artworks. Picasso took apart objects and "analyzed" them in terms of their shapes. While the Picasso’s paintings are to some extent similar in angular approach, the artwork The Red Armchair plays off inherent similarities and dissimilarities (Millere 2001). Picasso invites the viewer to look quickly back and forth, altering the images by passage of shadows or change of expression. It is interesting that Picasso was curious about three-dimensional perception at the moment of the conceptual definition of cubism (Baldassari 1994 cited in Miller 2001). In this painting, there is a sense of reciprocal rivalry, of challenge between Picasso the painter and Picasso the sculptor, as if they were arguing about the best way to present the subject (Daix 1993).

With reference to what is clearly perceivable, this art masterpiece falls under the theme of women and sexuality. Historically, woman (e.g. in maternity) was strongly expressed subject in his work (Daix 1993). The body fragments have been remodeled and separated but Picasso preserved the grace and glorification of rhythms, in which he allowed his imagination sway freely. Therefore, it can be claimed that Picasso is extremely obsessed with human anatomy particularly woman as subject of his works.

As stated, there are several visual elements that can be seen in the painting. However, the most dominant visual element is a woman’s figure, the use of colors and shapes. Picasso’s The Red Armchair is similarly full of grace as his former works (Lawrence et al. 1994). The powerful figure of the woman seated in the red armchair is set in a striking yet simple setting and composed of abstracted lines and curvatures. The shallow interior space is arranged in a manner suggestive of Picasso’s earliest manipulations of space in a cubist manner.

Picasso used the principles of cubism in making this design. It includes abstracted shapes and figures incorporated together in order to make multiple perspectives. Voorhies (2000) reported that Picasso had turned to harmonious colors and graceful contours that evoke an overall appearance of sensuality. Originally, he painted scenes of women with drooping heads and striking voluptuousness with a renewed sense of optimism and liberty, probably inspired by his numerous affairs with women. For instance, Picasso's Girl Reading at a Table uses expressive qualities of bold colors and gentle curves to portray Marie-Thérèse seated at an oversized table, emphasizing her youth and innocence (Voorhies 2000).

In my opinion, the context of this painting falls primarily in social and cultural aspect. During the time of Picasso, the idea of women empowerment is emerging. Aside from considering woman as a perfect description of beauty, Picasso wanted to bring message in his works. It is supposed that the message of his painting signifies external beauty and power inherent to women. Women during those times are not actually equally recognized by the society. Thus, his figurative interpretation of this idea is seen on the beauty presented with grace and sensuality. In the cultural aspect, Picasso is accustomed in the nature of man to appreciate women. During his times, he had numerous mistresses and this is one reason why such artworks are made possible. The exploration on the human body is also a culture that motivates artists to art and beauty. In contemporary application, The Red Armchair is a symbolic presentation of the role of women in society. As the painting depicts, women can be multi-functional and that they can do different things similarly yet ironically diverse to men.

In summary, Picasso’s The Red Armchair is another masterpiece that encompasses the artist’s cubism style in painting and contains subliminal social and cultural messages inherent to Picasso’s personal life. It is indeed an artwork that is worthy of appreciation and respect.

References

Baldassari, A 1994, Picasso photographic: 1901-1916, Éditions de la Réunion de musées nationaux, Paris, France, p. 192. Cited in Miller, AI 2001, Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty That Causes Havoc, Basic Books, New York.

Baudrillard, J 1997, Integral reality, Media & Communications – The European Graduate School, New York, New York.

Cauman, J 2001, Inheriting Cubism: The Impact of Cubism on American Art, 1909-1936, Hollis Taggart Galleries, New York.

Dais, P 1993, Picasso: Life and Art, translated by Olivia Emmet, Icon Editions, New York.

Karmel, P 2003, Picasso and the Invention of Cubism, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Lawrence Jr, RJ, Ulanov, AB, deVelder, JR, Hart, CW, Div, M, Ulanov, B, Gunn, R, Davis, RH, Barbre, C, Epperly, BG, DuBose, T, Havern, JR, Drobin, F, Hanson, MJ, & Epperly, BG 1994, ‘Reviews: Books, Films, painting’, Journal of Religion and Health, vol. 33, no. 3(September); pp. 279-299.

Miller, AI 2001, Einstein, Picasso: Space, Time and the Beauty That Causes Havoc, Basic Books, New York.

Nochlin, L 1998, ‘Painted women - Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning’, Art in America, November, C&M Arts, New York, New York.

Voorhies, J 2000, ‘Pablo Picasso (1881–1973)’, in Timeline of Art History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Retrieved November 22, 2006, from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pica/hd_pica.htm