Although Picasso has an extremely diverse portfolio, in particular we are going to discuss in more detail the painting of 'The cries of Virgins' originally known as 'El calm de les verges' which was painted by Pablo Picasso in 1900 and was influenced by the Art Nouveau Modernist style. This is a nude painting drawn using Charcoal as the medium and was painted by Picasso in his early years. It was during his early years that critics describe this as the Blue Period. Most of his paintings around this period are very reflective of his struggyling and repressed childhood.
The Blue Period (1901-1904) was reflective and inspired by Picasso’s personal emotional turmoil and financial destitution. Following a journey through Spain and with the suicide of his close friend Carlos Casagemas (1881-1901) in February 1901, Picasso’s work underwent a dramatic turn. Following his suicide, Picassos adopted a somewhat more repressed and monochromatic approach to his artwork utilising only black, blue and white colours. This is clearly potrayed through 'The cries of virgins' potrait as well as others during this dark blues period such as 'The Greedy Child,' Woman with folded arms,'Melancholy Woman,'The Tragedy' and 'The Soup.' In total there were around thirteen paintings reflecting this depressive state of mind within the Blue period for Pablo Picasso.
Again like with the majority of artists, their artwork tends to be inspired by their own private affairs which is important in gaining an insight into the state of mind of that artist, in this Pablo Picasso. The cries of Virgins is just simply one of those paintings that when we look at it we feel a somewhat sense of intimacy and sensuality but one of which is surrounded by loneliness and desperation. We all have our own views on this painting in particular but we can not dispute the fact that it opens our eyes into the personal world of Pablo Picasso in a somewhat limited and monochromatic light.
