He showed her essence and her path and proved how sharply and deeply he was able to see through the eyes of his imagination, much better than when he faced the pictured object. As Stein wrote about Picasso’s work on her portrait, “… he commenced to paint figures in colors that were almost monotone, still a little rose but mostly an earth color, the lines of the bodies harder, with a great deal of force there was the beginning of his own vision. It was like the blue period but much more felt and less colored and less sentimental. His art commenced to be much purer” (21).2 Stein saw the essence of Picasso’s talent and was the key personality who influenced his career, and with this portrait, he seems to have succeeded to deliver the essence of her visionary and influential personality. He reached the essence of Stein, valued her past and foreknew her future. Henri Matisse created his Young Sailor II the same year as Picasso finished his Gertrude Stein, 1906. It was the beginning of the formation of Matisse’s style that later would2 See Stein, especially 18-25, for more of her discussion of the evolution of Picasso’s style and the beginning of
He showed her essence and her path and proved how sharply and deeply he was able to see through the eyes of his imagination, much better than when he faced the pictured object. As Stein wrote about Picasso’s work on her portrait, “… he commenced to paint figures in colors that were almost monotone, still a little rose but mostly an earth color, the lines of the bodies harder, with a great deal of force there was the beginning of his own vision. It was like the blue period but much more felt and less colored and less sentimental. His art commenced to be much purer” (21).2 Stein saw the essence of Picasso’s talent and was the key personality who influenced his career, and with this portrait, he seems to have succeeded to deliver the essence of her visionary and influential personality. He reached the essence of Stein, valued her past and foreknew her future. Henri Matisse created his Young Sailor II the same year as Picasso finished his Gertrude Stein, 1906. It was the beginning of the formation of Matisse’s style that later would2 See Stein, especially 18-25, for more of her discussion of the evolution of Picasso’s style and the beginning of