The Three Bathers 'By Les Demoiselles D' Avignon

Henri Matisse is a French painter, born December 31, 1869. He was a post-impressionist painter despite having an apprenticeship under William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and later became a Fauvist painter. His teachings would later cause Matisse to reject his teacher’s style. (spurling). He would then proceed to be inspired by Paul Cézanne, which would later contribute to his characteristic contour lines (henrimatisse.net) . Matisse showcased his Fauvist style during his exhibit of Luxe, Calme, et Volupte at the Salon d’Automne in 1904, where he along with other artists in the same show, would be given the label of “Fauvists” due to their garish color schemes (artsconnected). His painting The Three Bathers, depicts three nude women toweling of by
The first three masks are inspired by Iberian masks, while the last two masks are African masks according to Museum of Modern Art’s description of the piece. The women are angular and sharp, and their bodies are harshly shaded. There is a distorted table that holds fruit that even appears sharp as well. The geometric structures of the women’s organic form indicate that this is a cubist painting. In fact, this painting was an experimental piece that led to the creation of cubism, as well as what Pablo Picasso referred to as his “first exorcism painting” (moma). Picasso would later collaborate with Georges Braque to explore cubism further. (moma) Picasso’s intention in this piece was to express the dangers of prostitution especially in regards to sexually transmitted diseases, which were prevalent in France during the time (moma.) The prostitutes are from a brothel on the street of Avignon in Barcelona. The masks they wear provide safety from dangers, which in this case is the danger of disease. Their harsh appearance, earlier described, goes against the voluptuous and calm nature of a nude and instead displays aggression and fear. The women pose sensually, to symbolize their role as prostitutes, but their abstraction visually makes the women undesirable and tainted. In earlier sketches, a sailor and a medical student were planned to be beside the prostitutes to further implement the danger of death, making the piece a momento mori. (Steinberg). Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was visible in Picasso’s studio, and then it was later exhibited at the Salon d’Antin in 1916. The painting received a lot of negative attention, but would later make Picasso surpass Henri Matisse as the avant-garde artist during the time. (henri-matisse.net) (292