Free Western Art And Civilization Essay Example

“Weeping woman with handkerchief” is one of acclaimed paintings by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso painted this oil on canvas painting in the year 1937. The canvas is 21 x 17 1/2 in size that is not that large, but is very striking. The focal point of this picture is pain and through this canvas, Picasso has portrayed how much pain, a human face can communicate. This paper intends to discuss and analyze Weeping woman with handkerchief.
Weeping woman with handkerchief shows how a Spanish woman is busted and sniveling into a handkerchief. The woman is dressed in a mantilla and wears a hat. Her head is bean shaped and is balanced perilously above the triangular neck. Her lips, chin and mouth, indicate towards her pain and suggest that she has been weeping for a long time. When one glares into the pictures, he is inside an enormous amount of pain. Watching this picture may cause you enormous amount of pain.
Pablo Picasso created this ineradicable portrayal of anguish by using merely six colors along with black and white. The background of this picture is painted entirely black. Woman’s skin is painted in bright white while her cheek and nose are painted by hot magenta. Her lips are colored with acidic green and shaded with pale as well as icy blue. Glowing yellow blouse and her fingers appear prominently because of a black background of the canvas.
Red-orange colored hair of the woman vibrates against the corresponding green colored mantilla that surrounds her head. Weeping eyes, as well as handkerchief, are portrayed in the excellent manner and indicate towards the amount of pain that the woman in the picture suffers. Prominent black lines on the face of woman are her teardrops. The handkerchief in her hands is drawn by the artist in a muddled way, and it appears like a furrowed cloud. Picasso has used lines and also used various shapes while portraying the picture.
Picasso has portrayed this picture obsessively. This painting belongs to surrealism as the painter himself belonged to this school of thought. The woman in the painting appears to be very aggrieved and weeping yet she is dressed in mantilla and wears a hat. She represents Spanish womanhood in a glorified and traditional way. The woman in the picture is a victim of violence and victim of war. The painting also shows Picasso’s agony towards violence and wars. The picture portrays pain at one hand, but it is a result of Picasso’s romantic relationship with several women in the contemporary period.
It is believed that the woman, painted in this picture is Dora Maar, a beautiful photographer. Dora Maar was a surrealist who assisted Picasso while he was painting Guernica and both of them spent a substantial time with each other. Picasso was under influence of surrealism and was growing a new relationship with Maar, and this is why he painted her. Picasso had witnessed how aggrieved she was after the Guernica was bombed and how people were affected by the fascist bombing.
Picasso portrayed this painting when he was inclined towards the politics. He witnesses how fascists bombed Spanish town Guernica and killed people. He also witnessed the pain that inhabitants of the town suffered during and after bombings. His painting Guernica is a large artwork that describes everything in detail. Picasso’s political sense inspired him to portray pain of people in a way that could reach to a larger population. He wanted people to abdicate war and remain with peace because war does nothing than killing innocents.
I believe this painting is one of the greatest artworks that portrays pain but also it indicates many things about women. Women are sensitive than men, and when wars take place, they are the one who are affected the most. Women witness more violence in every term during wars. They do not only lose their near and dears but also face physical, sexual and mental tortures. Picasso used his real life feelings while painting this picture. This picture is full of pain yet there is an elegance in the picture; the dressing of the women is marvelous. Weeping virgin women have very close ties to the culture of Spain and being Spanish Picasso had such feelings while portraying this picture.
Weeping woman with handkerchief was gifted to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mitchell in the year 1955. This painting is not less than a gem for LACMA because it was painted immediately after the Guernica. Picasso painted Guernica, one of his most famous paintings during the brutal bombing of a Spanish town having same name. It is believed that there is a close relationship between Guernica and “Weeping woman with handkerchief.”
Having observed an overview and succinct analysis of the abovementioned subject, the paper concludes that Weeping woman with handkerchief is a brilliant piece of painting by Pablo Picasso. Picasso has portrayed the picture in a simple yet expressive way that describes pain of a woman who is victim of war. The communication of the painting is very powerful and the same is appreciated by art lovers. LACMA is proud to be the custodian of this artwork which is very significant piece of an interminable artwork.