Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2019 Being human: The figure in art

The women who made ’s nudes Josephine Touma 21 & 22 August, 2019

Lecture summary: The story of Picasso’s work (particularly his nudes) is too often told as a sordid biography. As the artist’s behaviour and attitudes towards women have again come under public scrutiny in the wake of the #metoo movement, it’s time to take a fresh look at the artworks themselves for insight. How is Picasso’s attitude towards women conveyed in the thousands of nudes he painted, drew and sculpted? In this lecture, we’ll start by looking again at a painting that has an almost mythical place in the canon of this most mythical artist--1907’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon--and consider its difficult genesis and persistent legacy.

Slide list

All works by , unless otherwise noted.

1. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, June-July 1907, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York 2. Study of a Torso, After a Plaster Cast, 1893/1894, charcoal and black pencil on paper, Musée Picasso, Paris 3. , 1903, oil on canvas, Cleveland Museum of Art 4. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Au salon de la rue des moulins, 1894, black chalk and oil on canvas, Musée Toulouse-Lautrec, Albi, France 5. Titian, Diana and Actaeon, 1556-59, oil on canvas, National Gallery London 6. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, The Turkish bath,1863, oil on canvas on panel, Musée du Louvre 7. Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, The Spring, 1820-1856, oil on canvas, Musée d'Orsay 8. Francisco Goya, La maja desnuda,c.1797–1800. Museo del Prado, Madrid. 9. Edouard Manet, Olympia 1863, Oil on canvas, Musee d’Orsay 10. Henri Matisse Le bonheur de vivre, oil on canvas, Barnes Foundation 11. The harem, 1906, oil on canvas, Cleveland Museum of Art 12. Reclining Nude (Fernande), 1906, Watercolor and gouache, with graphite and possibly charcoal, Cleveland Museum of Art 13. Two Nudes, late 1906, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York 14. Study for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Paris, early 1907, Oil on canvas, MOMA 15. Study for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, March/ April 1907, Black crayon and pastel on Ingres paper, Kunstmuseum Basel 16. Study for Les Demoiselles d'Avignon May 1907, Charcoal on paper, Kunstmuseum Basel 17. Reliquary figure (Oudombo, Gabon) wood, metal and mixed media, Musée de l'Homme, Paris. 18. Fang Peoples (African, Gabon), Mask, date unknown, Carved wood with pigment, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris (formerly in collections of Vlaminck and Derain) Proudly sponsored by:

19. Fang Peoples (African, Gabon), Mask: Ngontang, 1875-1900, Carved wood with pigment, Toledo Museum of Art 20. Portrait of Gertrude Stein, 1905-6, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 21. Girl with a Mandolin (Fanny Tellier), 1910, oil on canvas, 100.3 x 73.6 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York 22. Three figures under a tree, 1907–08, oil on canvas, Musée Picasso, Paris 23. Dryad, 1908, oil on canvas, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg 24. Nu assis s'essuyant le pied (Seated Nude Drying her Foot), 1921, pastel, Berggruen Museum 25. Three Dancers, 1925, oil on canvas, Tate Modern 26. Large Nude on a Red Armchair, 1929, oil on canvas, Musée Picasso, Paris 27. Nude Standing by the Sea, 1929, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 28. Figures at the seashore, 1931, oil on canvas, Musée Picasso, Paris 29. Head of a woman, 1929-30, painted iron, springs, sheet metal and found objects, Musée Picasso 30. Woman in the Garden, Paris, spring 1929–30, Welded and painted metal, Musée Picasso, Paris 31. Head of a Woman, Boisgeloup, 1932, plaster, Museum of Modern Art, New York 32. Bust of a Woman (Marie-Thérèse) 1931, Plaster, Private collection, New York 33. Woman in a Red Armchair 1932, oil paint on canvas, Musée Picasso 34. Femme nue dans un fauteuil rouge (Nude in a red armchair), 1932, oil on canvas, Tate Modern 35. The dream, 1932, oil on canvas private collection 36. Bacchic scene with minotaur, 18 May 1933, from the (85), etching, National Gallery of Australia 37. Femme allongée sur un canapé () 1939, oil on canvas, Lewis collection 38. Reclining woman reading, 1939, oil on canvas, Musée Picasso, Paris 39. Woman Dressing Her Hair, June 1940, oil on canvas, Museum of Modern Art, New York

References: Ashton, Dore (ed). Picasso on art: a selection of views, Da Capo Press, New York 1972 Baldessari, Anne, Picasso. Masterpieces from the Musee National Picasso, Paris, exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of New South Wales / Flammarion 2011 *Cowling, Elizabeth. Picasso: style and meaning, Phaidon, London and New York 2002 Cowling, Elizabeth, Cox, Neil et al. Picasso: challenging the past, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery, London 2009 Cox, Neil. The Picasso book, Tate Publishing, London 2010 Gilot, Françoise and Lake, Carlton. Life with Picasso (1964),Virago, London 1997 McCully, Marilyn (ed). A Picasso anthology: documents, criticism, reminiscences, Princeton University Press, New Jersey 1981 Stein, Gertrude. Picasso, Dover Publications, New York 1984(first published 1938) *Steinberg, Leo, “The Philosophical Brothel”. October, no. 44, Spring 1988. 7–74. First published in Art News vol. LXXI, September/October 1972

For access to all past lecture notes visit: https:// www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/members/current-members/member-events/being- human-figure-art/