Created by Pablo Picasso in 1896, the artwork titled “Quarries” is an oil on canvas that exemplifies the Realism movement. As a landscape genre piece, it reveals Picasso’s exploration of natural scenery during his formative years as an artist, prior to his well-known Cubist and Surrealist periods.
The artwork depicts a rugged terrain, with textured representation of rock faces and quarries. Earthy tones dominate the palette, suggesting a sunlit environment with patches of shadow. Depicted are jagged edges and a variety of angular planes, clearly conveying the roughness of the quarry surfaces. Sparse vegetation appears toward the top of the composition, hinting at life persisting in an otherwise harsh and barren landscape. The brushwork is confident and robust, with an attention to detail that brings out the depth and dimensionality of the rocks, creating a sense of realism that invites viewers to contemplate the raw beauty of the natural world as seen through the artist’s eyes.
