In Search of Absolute Freedom (Picasso)

This sculpture, although simple in form is somewhat more complex in its subtle ideology. In the very early years of the 20th century Picasso was trying to break away from the dominating influence of the renaissance on modern art. This search for absolute freedom and his preoccupation with structure led him to the aesthetic revolution later to be called cubism. The painting “Les demoiselles d’Avignon” was to be the stepping off place, although not quite yet cubism, it led to that phase of Picasso’s painting and sculpture. Yet it is to be emphasized that even during this period he did several figurative works, which says that during the several distinct periods of Picasso’s work they were only alternatives and not absolutes. I have chosen to portray the artist both as a younger man in his self-portrait, and as the older Picasso that most people recognize, to emphasize that this quest to be ultimately his own person was a lifelong endeavor. The brushes in a cream bottle put him in the studio which is where we eliminate the Picasso of storied nights and focus on the artist he was to the end of his days.