The exhibit shows us Picasso's fascination with Edgar Degas's work. Picasso and Degas were interested in capturing the everyday life in their paintings. They both depicted subjects such as bored ballerinas and washerwomen from a hidden angle, rarely do their works of art look posed. Rather each painting and sculpture appears as if the subjects are frozen in a moment in time. As you can see in the images shown below, Picasso will take themes from Degas's work and give them his own interpretation.
In the Painting 'Absinth drinker in a bar', Degas uses soft shading and pastel shades to create this simple moment. The man beside the woman, is not the focus of the image, and there is a clear disconnect between the two figures. In Picasso's interpretation of this theme, he uses neon blues and bright whites, the stark opposite of Degas's palette. The woman has same lidded expression of boredom as in Degas's piece. While the man maintains the same facial features as the one in Degas's painting, he is now looking straight at the viewer, rather than away from the woman. While Degas's painting is an unobtrusive study of a moment, Picasso's subjects are aware of the viewer in an almost startling way.
Another theme Picasso found intriguing was that of a girl getting her hair done. While the palette in Degas's images is brighter, blending the background with the girl's red hair, it is still more muted than Picasso's cubist interpretation.
In Degas's painting the girl's mouth is a small line and her brows are furrowed, while and she is holding her head. Her expression could possible be due to the pain felt at having her hair yanked by the other woman. In Picasso's image, the girl's eyes and mouth are also closed, possibly also in a gesture of pain. This time however, the girl is doing her own hair, the second woman is eliminated. She isinflicting pain upon herself. Both images seem to expression an emotion of pain, but each artist uses a different technique to catch the viewer's eye and demonstrate this.
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