Las Meninas (group)

Dated 17.8.57. on the back

Cannes

Oil on canvas

194 x 260 cm

Donated by the artist, 1968

MPB 70.433

The work .

Chronologically, this work is the first in the series where Picasso produced a personal interpretation of the whole of Velázquez’s work. The same characters as in Velázquez’s work appear here, although, with an aesthetically different form, with variations in certain elements of the composition.

On the one hand, the vertical format is substituted for the horizontal. On the other, where in Velázquez's work the figure around whom the entire composition revolves is the Infanta Margarita, in Picasso's work, the Infanta still has an essential role but so does the figure of the painter who, shown in disproportionate size and holding two palettes, takes a major role, reinforcing in this way the idea that the most important thing in the entire creation of art is the artist himself. In this way, moving towards the right of the composition, the form simplifies and the figures to the right contrast with the more elaborate figures of Velázquez and the first 'menina'.

Another major variant is the treatment of light and colour. This variation has a direct effect on the painting’s luminosity with the opening of large windows to the right which, in Velázquez’s work, remain closed. The lack of colour contrasts with this luminosity. Blacks and whites dominate the composition, whether on purpose since Picasso had used this resource before or due to the only reference he had being a large photographic blow-up in black and white. The colour would appear in the subsequent interpretations.

The dog also appears, although the mastiff of Velázquez is substituted by Lump, the basset Picasso had at La Californie.

Location .

Room 12

Museu Picasso de Barcelona Carrer Montcada 15-23 08003 Barcelona tel 93 256 30 00 fax 93 315 01 02 [email protected] 1