Artwork of the week: Large nude on a red armchair (1929)

The work of Large Nude in a Red Armchair was created by Picasso in the chaotic year of 1929, marked by Olga Picasso's illness and the emergence of the artist's romance with Marie-Thérèse Walter. This portrait, imbued with a unique graphic violence, not only captures the figure of Olga at a specific moment, but also reveals the emotional turmoil and transformation of Picasso himself.

The painting, a reinterpretation of the recurring theme of the female figure in an armchair, shows Olga disarticulated against a red background, creating a visual expression of her internal struggles. The representation of the belly, marked with a black ring and occupying the center of the composition, takes on an ethereal quality. The strokes and brushstrokes suggest the disorganization of a body without fixed form, defying the artistic conventions of the time.

Large Nude in a Red Armchair (1929) encapsulates the very essence of the transformation Picasso experienced in his life and art. The piece thus becomes a window into the artist's inner world, where art becomes a means to express anguish, disintegration and the search for new forms of representation.

The piece is on display in MIRÓ-PICASSO, a simultaneous exhibition of the Museu Picasso Barcelona and the Fundació Joan Miró as part of the Picasso Celebration 1973-2023, which will be open until February 25, 2024.

Sources:

Musée national Picasso-París:

https://www.museepicassoparis.fr/fr/grand-nu-au-fauteuil-rouge