Picasso's Nude Descending a Staircase.
How do you seperate her from the staircase? Why do I assume that she is a she? Would we assume this was a nude if we were not told? Do we see a human being? If not, what do we see?
I see a wooden woman, a buck naked wooden woman. I see her gliding descent in fast forward and rewind. I see her as apart from the staircase, the blur before clarity. The most focused part of the painting is the top of the stairs and she is walking away from it.
As an art nerd, I love this! I love when people are inspired by art and share their thoughts and ask questions! :)
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd point out though that this painting is by Marcel Duchamp and not Picasso. But I never realized til now how similar it is in style to Picasso's cubism!
Also, I've read many places that the nude is "obviously" a man because of his penis. But maybe I'm blind, because I don't see a very obvious penis anywhere . . .
I think it's rather obvious at this point that I don't know art. Thanks for the correction, R.A!! I was initally aghast at the "obivously a man" bit, but I think I just found his penis...
ReplyDeletePerhaps the fact that while I have wildly misinterpreted everything from artist to subject, I still managed to be inspired, shows how fascinating and genius it really is?
So true! So many people feel the need to ask "But what is it?" and miss out on being inspired just by looking and asking questions and making their own judgments. :)
DeleteBesides, if Duchamp had wanted the gender to be obvious he probably would have titled it "Nude Man Descending a Staircase."