In the French art of the early 20th century, there was a great interest in "vicious" characters. Picasso had many predecessors and a special attention should be drawn to the influence of Toulouse-Lautrec. Many paintings were devoted to the theme of absinthe, the drink that became a kind of fetish in Paris at the turn of the century. Many special properties were ascribed to this strong wormwood liqueur, often referred to as the "green fairy": it was thought that people addicted to absinthe suffered not just from simple alcohol abuse, but from its special "sublime" form, and that they immersed in a world of hallucinations and fantasies. So thematically Picasso is still moving in the "mainstream" of the epoch. However, the images created by the young artist are sharply dramatic. For example, in this painting, the most striking detail is a giant right hand of a woman, who is absorbed in her thoughts and tries to embrace and protect herself with this hand.
This is such a great painting way too underrated... And saddly nobody has written any complete analysis to help me out with my homeworks haha 19 November
2012
#2. jack , rusiia
i am batman 12 June
2011
#1. unknown, u.s.a
this is weird! why are her hands all demented?!? is this a famous painter or a poor ugly man? 19 May
12 recent comments
19 January James from Colorado wrote: 'There are two Picasso paintings given the name “Reading”. This seems not to be addressed in many resources and I am finding it a significant impediment.'
10 January Michael May from Dublin wrote: 'Despite being the same subject as many of his other 1962 works, it is certainly a unique, more colourful and vibrant take. Did Picasso make any other drawings of this type using the same mediums?'
06 September Whodidnarva from Dublin wrote: 'ugly'
14 March em from Dublin wrote: 'gorgeous painting'
24 January Ibrahim from Dublin wrote: 'me la pela el cuadro solo estoy aqui por un trabajo de insti'
01 January Kitty from Lantau Island wrote: 'This guy'
03 December Lucia from Sketchpadussyworld wrote: 'That’s not even a beret'
24 November Lucia from Lucialand wrote: 'Lol did she influence the finder logo?!?!?!'
21 November Martha from Nederland wrote: 'Picasso was een wonderkind. Hij kon als 4 jarige al schilderen als Velasquez. Ik heb woman flower als een hele mooie poster thuis aan de muur.'
26 October Sketch from Crashbox wrote: 'This is disgusting, man'
24 October Sketch from Crashbox wrote: 'What a very cute painting.'
22 October Sketch from Crashbox wrote: 'This one looks scary.'
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