The artwork titled “Green Pan and Black Bottle” was created by Pablo Picasso in 1908, during the influential Cubist period. It is a still life painting that measures 61 by 50.5 centimeters and is currently housed in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The genre of the artwork is still life, which is a form of art depicting inanimate subject matter, commonly commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made.
Upon examining the artwork, one notices the distinctive characteristics of Cubism, which breaks away from traditional perspectives in art. Picasso explores the fragmentation of form, the juxtaposition of angles, and the reassembling of objects in abstracted, geometric shapes. The still life features a pan and a bottle, objects which have been reduced to their essential forms with a limited and earthy color palette predominately featuring greens, blacks, and reds. Picasso’s approach deconstructs the conventional representation of objects and reconstructs them in a way that portrays them from multiple viewpoints simultaneously. The composition creates a sense of depth and space despite the flattened perspective, allowing the viewer to engage with the geometry and spatial relationships presented within the work. The bold colors and shapes harmonize to invoke a sense of solidity and presence in the otherwise ethereal cubist space.
