The artwork titled “Head of a Woman” was created by the eminent artist Pablo Picasso in 1908. This portrait is rendered in gouache on panel and is a notable example of the Cubist art movement. The dimensions of the artwork are relatively modest, measuring 27 by 21 centimeters. As a portrait, the artwork exemplifies the radical departure from traditional representation that characterizes Cubism, by breaking down and reassembling the subject into abstracted forms.
In the artwork, the subject, a woman’s head, is depicted with a series of fragmented and geometric planes that suggest three-dimensionality on a two-dimensional surface. The use of brown and green hues provides an earthy palette, while the interplay of light and shadow adds depth to the composition. The visage is simplified and comprised of angular and rounded forms that convey the features of the face in a stylized manner. This approach to portraiture is indicative of Picasso’s experimental phase during which he, along with Georges Braque, challenged the conventions of perspective and form that had dominated Western art since the Renaissance. The painting captures the essence of the subject through a lens that is concerned more with the interplay of shapes and the process of seeing rather than with mimetic representation.
