Courtesy of www.PabloPicasso.org Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (Click above to see an image of the painting or see a smaller image below) This painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, was painted in 1907 and is the most famous example of cubism painting. In this painting, Picasso abandoned all known form and representation of traditional art. He used distortion of female's body and geometric forms in an innovative way, which challenge the expectation that paintings will offer idealized representations of female beauty. It also shows the influence of African art on Picasso. This painting is a large work and took nine months to complete. It demonstrates the true genius and novelty of Picasso's passion. He created hundreds of sketches and studies to prepare for the final work. Some critics argue that the painting was a reaction to Henri Matisse'sLe bonheur de vivre and Blue Nude. Its resemblance to The Large Bathers of Paul Cezanne, Statue Oviri of Gauguin and Opening of the Fifth Seal of El Greco has been broadly talked about by later critics. When it first exhibited in 1916, the painting was regarded as immoral. After nine years of the painting being created, Picasso had always referred to it as Le Bordel d'Avignon, but art critic Andre Salmon, who managed its first exhibition, renamed it Les Demoiselles d'Avignon to reduce its outrageous effect on general society. Picasso never liked Salmon's title, and as an compromise would have preferred las chicas de Avignon instead. Courtesy of www.PabloPicasso.org In 1972, art critic commentator Leo Steinberg in his article The Philosophical Brothel set an entirely distinctive clarification for the extensive variety of expressive characteristics. Utilizing the prior portrayals - which had been overlooked by most pundits - he contended that a long way from proof of a craftsman experiencing a quick expressive transformation, the assortment of styles can be perused as an intentional endeavor, a cautious arrangement, to catch the look of the viewer. He takes note of that the five ladies all appear to be frightfully detached, to be sure entirely unconscious of one another. Rather, they concentrate singularly on the viewer, their dissimilar styles just advancing the power of their glare. According to Steinberg, the reversed gaze, that is, the fact that the figures look directly at the viewer, as well as the idea of the self-possessed woman, no longer there solely for the pleasure of the male gaze, may be traced back to Olympia, 1863 of Manet. A great part of the critical debate that has occurred throughout the years focuses on endeavoring to record for this multitude of styles inside the work. The predominant understanding for more than five decades, embraced most eminently by Alfred Barr, the first chief of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and coordinator of significant profession reviews for the craftsman, has been that it can be translated as proof of a transitional period in Picasso's specialty, a push to associate his prior work to Cubism, the style he would help design and grow throughout the following five or six years. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City mounted an important Picasso exhibition on November 15, 1939 that remained on view until January 7, 1940. The exhibition entitled: Picasso:40 Years of His Art, was organized by Alfred H. Barr (1902 - 1981), in collaboration with the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition contained 344 works, including the major and then newly painted Guernica and its studies, as well as Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. Picasso's Masterpieces Guernica Les Demoiselles d'Avignon The Old Guitarist The Blue Nude Three Musicians Girl Before a Mirror The Dream The Weeping Woman The Women of Algiers Bathers Ma Jolie Portrait of Ambroise Vollard Massacre in Korea Maternity Dora Maar Au Chat Seated Woman Nude in a Black Chair Jacqueline with flowers Guernica Les Demoiselles d'Avignon The Old Guitarist The Blue Nude Three Musicians Girl Before a Mirror Sponsored Links .