Venus Rising
 Statuette of Aphrodite (Venus) |
 Venus Rising from the Sea (Venus Anadyomene) |
 Venus Rising from the Sea ('Venus Anadyomene') |
 Venus and Cupid |
 Drawing of a Statue of Venus with a Dolphin (The Medici Venus) |
 The Tub |
 The Birth of Venus |
![La Représentation [Representation]](http://www.nationalgalleries.org/media_collection/7/GMA%203546.jpg) La Représentation [Representation] |
 Bather Wringing her Hair |
 Venus Anadyomene (after Titian) |
Pablo Picasso 1881-1973
Bather Wringing her Hair
1952Picasso's bather dominates the picture. The massive figure can be seen from front and back, simultaneously, as if the artist had gone around the figure and painted her as he moved. Picasso is the most important twentieth-century artist. While fascinated by the western art of the past, he also went beyond that dominant tradition, exploring so-called 'primitive' art, such as African sculpture. In this case, it is likely that Picasso was directly influenced by Titian's 'Venus', since close comparisons can be drawn between the two works. However, Picasso's bather is much more dynamic in the way she wrings her hair. She also has bodily hair, which most western artists, including Titian, tended to play down or omit completely.
The son of an artist, Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain, and studied at art school in Barcelona. He visited Paris in 1900 and after several extended stays settled there in 1904. Picasso was a hugely prolific and highly influential artist who worked in numerous styles throughout his life. However, it is probably for his cubist paintings that he is known. Their revolutionary treatment of subject matter, whether still life or portrait, is instantly recognisable as being by Picasso. The Gallery of Modern Art has a small, but choice collection of Picasso's work, including a Blue Period painting, a cubist collage, two still life paintings, two drawings, several prints and some notable loans.
Painting v Sculpture
In Titian's time, experts argued about which artistic method was more realistic: painting or sculpture. Picasso invented a way of showing the many different sides of an object in a flat, two-dimensional picture. This innovative method is called Cubism.
- Medium Oil on panel
- Size 150.5 x 119.4 cm
- Location Private Collection
- Do they look like real women to you or not? What is it about them that makes you think this?
- What words can you think of to describe the women depicted in these art works?
- Which Venus do you find the most beautiful - and why?
- How do these art works compare to modern images of beautiful women?
- Who would you say has "goddess status" today, and why?
- Who do you think would have owned these works of art when they were made and where do you think they would have been displayed?
- How does the lack of eye contact with most of these Venuses make you feel when you look at them?
- Why do you think that artists such as Titian were so interested in ancient art and literature?
- Why do you think artists have chosen to portray female nudes so often in the past?
- How do the twentieth-century Venuses compare to the older ones?
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- © Succession Picasso/DACS 2006