The artwork “Portrait of young girl” by Pablo Picasso was created in 1914. It is an exemplar of the Synthetic Cubism movement, depicting a portrait genre. The artwork has dimensions of 130 x 96.5 cm. Synthetic Cubism, pioneered by Picasso and Georges Braque, is characterized by the introduction of different textures, surfaces, collage elements and a greater variety of subjects.
The artwork itself confounds the conventional expectations of portraiture; instead of literal representation, it is comprised of an array of shapes and forms that suggest rather than delineate the figure of a young girl. The composition is rich with colored planes, and patterns that create depth and volume, whilst retaining the flat, two-dimensional surface that is emblematic of the Cubist style. The palette is relatively muted yet contains moments of bold color that draw the eye and energize the composition. The balance between abstraction and representation, the pictorial rhythm created through the interplay of shape and color, and the evident harmony of the disparate elements are all indications of Picasso’s virtuosity in the Synthetic Cubist mode.
