Modernist: The Girl with a Mandolin Essay Example
Modernist: The Girl with a Mandolin Essay Example

Modernist: The Girl with a Mandolin Essay Example

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  • Pages: 5 (1239 words)
  • Published: November 24, 2021
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The term modernism is mainly used to signify the break in art history, and it indicates the bridge between the current and the past artworks, and it also carries with it a meaning that is almost a criticism of the tradition. In the recent past, art has been found to be one of the useful tools in the field of science where technology is evolving to form new means of replicating the graphic pictures. Many of the images that have been made in the recent past indicate concepts of modernism. This has been done in order to attract many viewers and enhance the concept of modernism. This essay seeks to evaluate an abstract art known as Girl with a Mandolin that was created by Pablo Picasso in 1909. The paper will focus on the characteristic modernist innovations of the artwork.

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The Girl with a Mandolin is one of the great masterpieces in the history of arts. It was made during the era of Cubist movement in 1910 by a French painter, Pablo Picasso. According to Farina and Kreiner, this artwork is considered as one of the Picasso’s initial analytic cubist conceptions (10). Pablo’s ideas motivated him to create the subject as if the girl was sitting directly in front of him. He evaluated his desired artwork and broke it down into several rectangles, dices, squares, and other geometric figures along the profiles of her procedure. What is amazing in this artwork is how the artist managed to arrange the geometrical shapes in order to portray several parts of her body that would else not be possible to see from one side of the

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image.

In fact, this indicates the classical example of the analytic Cubist picture. Picasso's environment was very important in his work. They motivated him to create everyday life in his surroundings. Unlike the conventional western artworks that were created before impressionism, Pablo introduced a modern approach that allowed him to represent his subject by using geometric figures to recreate a subjective form of the image. The traditional artists painted historical images that posed to generate a pyramid of vector shapes that lead to a vital focal point of the image.

Characteristic Modernist Innovations in The Girl with A Mandolin

Juxtaposition of Fragments

At the commencement of the 20th-century period, Pablo was spending much of his time in Paris. During the 1910 summer period, Pablo went for a holiday in Cadaques, a town in Spain, and it is during this holiday period that the concept of Girl with a Mandolin was instigated. Having been brought up during the Early Cubist era when images were more expressive, Picasso had now developed his talent, and he was in the throes of the analytical cubism. During this period, Pablo invested a surface ornament was considered to have a big intrinsic value. In Girl with a Mandolin image, the characteristic fragmentation is integral, and the artist carried it to almost an unrecognizable level.

In fact, the image is believed to have laid the foundation of modernism in the artworks of the 20th century. Pablo fragmented the girl's figure into pieces that were organized to simulate their prediction out of the flat image plane towards the viewer, and this depicted her to be in movement as she plays her mandolin. A critical analysis of the image

indicates that Pablo was trying to portray the fourth dimension, space, and time continuum.

In the image, only the mandolin component is fairly easy to recognize in the lower part of the configuration. According to Yenalis and Moner, both the outlines of the image its internal sketch have been fragmented to form interpenetrative geometrical figures (100). In fact, the coloration of the image has been dominated by the brown colors that are paling to the beige. The blue-grey intonations are directly juxtaposed with the dark and structural lines that permeate the image with facet-like plasticity. In spite of the substantial problems that the viewer experiences when interpreting this picture, the image presents even to a greater extent modernism that the artist was striving to depict. The analysis of the artwork indicates that the artist was not concerned with the mimetic imitation of the girl holding the musical device, but with the nature of his artwork. Hence, one can confidently see that the image presents a juxtaposition of fragments.

Inventive Use of Allusion and Quotation in The Artwork

In the Girl with Mandolin, Pablo used a lot of allusions. What he was trying to create in the image is the concept of how the modern city street life appears to the viewer.  Secondly, the image was created when feminism was a major idea in the western countries. Women were struggling to enhance their recognition by the society. The idea of creating a woman who was playing mandolin signifies a new era where women were embraced by the society. While in the critical phase, Pablo was reviewing and then reuniting the bits and pieces to recommend objects as seen from

the multiple angles but the latter phase of assembling the image was more focused on the idea of inventing allusion. By this time, many artists were focusing on the idea of enhancing allusion as a means of provoking the viewers to think beyond what they can see.

Furthermore, the artists were focusing on themes and issues that were present at that particular time (Farina & Kreiner 34). City life had advanced, and the industrial growth provided a good opportunity for many people to migrate to the towns in search of employment. The society had also started embracing the women. As a result, the life in the city was very lively, and many musicians were concentrating on providing entertainment in the city streets. Girl with Mandolin signified this liveliness in the city and the increased level of entertainment on the city streets. It also signified the new dawn for women who had been struggling to increase their recognition in the society. What Pablo has managed to do here is to use allusion in an inventive way to remind us of the core theme of feminism and the struggle among women. By creating this image, he was also able to challenge the outdated demands that the artists strived for in the name of unity. The allusion and juxtaposition concepts in the image played an important role in enhancing the theme.

Conclusion

As discussed above, Girl with Mandolin is one of the artworks that demonstrate many characteristics of innovation. The image was painted in 1910 when the theme of feminism was a major topic in the world affairs. The image clearly exhibits modernist innovations such as juxtaposition for fragments and inventive usage

of allusion and quotation. Pablo was able to unite geometrical shapes to form an image of a girl who was playing the mandolin. He was also able to exhibit the concept of allusion by promoting the issue of city life and feminism as discussed above. Girl with Mandolin is regarded as one of the best artworks that were produced by artists in the early 20th century.

Works Cited

  • Farina, Violetta, and Johanna Kreiner. 20th Century Art. Florence: SCALA, 2009. Print.
  • Yenalis, Hilberts and Young Moner. "Girl with A Mandolin: A Critical Analysis of The Masterpiece." The International Journal of Drawing & Painting, vol 45, no. 23, 2014, pp. 99-102.
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