Picasso’s command of Old Masters

Portrait of Olga Picasso (Olga Khokhlova) by Pablo Picasso – 1923

LOVE ART, LOVE LIFE. TALKING ART with Paul Woods.

Picasso brilliantly demonstrates his mastery of modern neoclassical painting in this superbly executed seated portrait of his Russian wife, Olga Khokhlova.

Set in a portrait format, Olga sits in a classic three-quarter casual pose with confidence on a slightly ornate carved wood, upholstered chair. She has stylised chiselled features like a flawless sculpture, with one arm resting on her crossed legs, cropped short by the picture frame. Her other arm rests relaxed and informally on the chair’s back. She looks out of frame to the left aloof and detached from the viewer.

The colours are few and muted in harmony with the russet reds and browns of her elegantly simple outfit and the chair. The indistinct mottled background is muted with grey, greenish colours that pick up the colours of the figure and chair.

The composition of warm pinky tones of exposed face, neck, chest and hands as well as contrasts of light and dark, most notably between the face and the dark almost black hair that shift dramatically into shadow gives the painting its dynamics. The highlighted exposed face and chest draw the gaze to her head and upper body. The hands are the secondary focal points and together they create a triangular dynamic moving the eye around the composition. The face and neck set up a dual dynamic as the eye skips between these two points of equal mass followed by the secondary dynamic between the two hands and then a triangular dynamic of the two hands and face/neck.

Throughout his life, Picasso demonstrated a breath-taking versatility and command of differing styles and periods. I love this neoclassic image, showing deference to past masters but unmistakeably modern and demonstrably by Picasso. It is utterly captivating.

LOVE ART, LOVE LIFE