Historical Significance
“Ma Jolie” is a Cubist painting created by Pablo Picasso between 1911 and 1912. The name of the painting translates to “my pretty girl” in English and is thought to reference Picasso’s mistress, Marcelle Humbert, who he referred to as ‘ ma jolie.’ Also, “Ma Jolie” was a song refrain from one of Picasso’s favourite songs. Thus, the painting comprises of a woman’s figure, possibly Picasso’s mistress, lightly outlined through the use of shifting Analytic Cubism planes, as well as a music staff and treble clef near the bold letters, which define the musical association of the painting. Additionally, on top of the woman’s head, there appears to be a fruit bowl, a factor that implies the roots of Picasso’s work before World War I. So, to convey its message, the painting relies on concepts and meanings in the context of the relation between the signifier and what they signify (“Ma Jolie, 1911-1912 by Pablo Picasso”, 2009).
Picasso is historically significant because he influenced art in the 20th Century through his experimental and innovative tendencies. He not only contributed to art in terms of painting but also through sculpting, printmaking, and writing as well as ceramic and etching artistry. Picasso’s work matured from the naturalism concept defined by his childhood through Surrealism and Cubism, both of which allowed him to shape the direction of contemporary art. His art is also historically significant. It evolved from the blue to the rose to the African influence periods, and landed in the analytic Cubism era when he painted “Ma Jolie”.
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“Ma Jolie” is historically significant because of it among Picasso’s paintings that marked the start of the Cubism artistic era, which relied on the utilization of earth-tone palettes. Additionally, the paintings of the Cubism artistic era, including “Ma Jolie,” depicted object deconstruction through complex geometric forms (“Pablo Picasso Biography”, 2009). Moreover, the painting is also historically significant because it focuses on a customary theme of a woman with a guitar. The woman’s face is completely abstracted through the variation of planes, lines, shades and angles used by Picasso. Also, the treble clef placed adjacent to the letters highlights Picasso’s attempt to use both symbols and texts to pass a message that considerably possesses aspects of visual modernity (“MoMA | Pablo Picasso. “Ma Jolie.” Paris, winter 1911–12”, n.d.).
Secondly, “Violin and Palette” by Georges Braque is an oil painting on a canvas that was created between 1909 and 1910, within the Analytic Cubism period. The painting differs significantly from others that Braque had previously created because it appears as a still form, presented as an abstract formation. The key components of the painting, the violin and the palette, are noticeable, but they are created through the use of angular shapes, shards and facets. A sheet of music is also visible between the palette and the violin, with all of the painting’s components being presented in muted and monochromatic colours (“Violin and Palette by Georges Braque”, 2016).
Braque is a historically significant figure in art because he was a French master painter in the 20th Century. His painting abilities stemmed from his training in decorating and house painting, coupled with the painting training he undertook in Ecole des Beaux-Arts. When he started painting, he contributed to the Impressionist and Fauvism movements but later joined the Cubism era because he claimed that representing objects in the form of fragments allowed him to get closer to the subjects of his painting. Braque drew his inspiration to switch from the Fauve movement from Paul Cézanne, an artist that used geometry in his compositions, leading to the creation of faceted forms and extended spatial plans adorned in quiet colours (“Violin and Palette”, 2019). So, he worked with Picasso to establish the Cubism era, whose focus was abstraction (“Violin and Palette by Georges Braque”, 2016).
His art, “Violin and Palette” is equally significant because it is one of two that marked the prime of the Cubism period, better defined as the era of space and form analysis. The components of the painting appear to be in motion when a viewer’s eyes move from one plane to another, looking to differentiate shapes and understand the shifting sources of orientation and light. Moreover, in the painting, Braque ironically painted a nail at the top of the canvas and the possible shadow it could cast to emphasize the contrast between Cubist and traditional means of representation. Furthermore, through “Violin and Palette,” Braque sought to express the enhanced significance of musical instruments that are touch animated considering that still life appeals only through its implied tactile characteristics. Thus, compared to the harmonies and rhythms musical instruments produce, the dynamism of spatial movement in Braque’s painting depicted the lyricism of Cubist paintings (“Violin and Palette”, 2019).
Stylistic Similarities and Differences
Since both Picasso and Braque were artists of the cubism era, their art, “Ma Jolie” and “Violin and Palette” respectively, were characterized by the disintegration of objects encountered in daily life and their reassembly. The art was defined by the utilization of abstract shapes with various pieces and viewpoints that represented the object featured in a size that was larger than its actual area. These techniques also allowed the artists to exploit light, leading to the creation of a revolutionary movement that set the stage for other artistic eras like Purism and Abstract art (“Violin and Palette by Georges Braque”, 2016). Also, both artists highlight the fundamentals of the Cubist era by featuring musical instruments. Relying on the subject matter repeatedly among Cubist artists meant to encourage viewers to focus more on stylistic innovation associated with Cubism rather than the subject of the art ("Cubism - Top Paintings and Sculptures", 2019).
Regardless, in his creation of “Ma Jolie,” Picasso pushes the boundaries of his experiments to exploit new artistic styles. By building on the fundamentals of geometric shapes that overlap each other, he distinguished his works from the productions of the Renaissance era, which relied on illusion elicited three-dimensionality. Additionally, Picasso also reduced the use of colour through heightening low-relief sculpture illusion more than Braque in his “Violin and Palette” creation. Crucially, Picasso further included painted words onto his painting ("Cubism - Top Paintings and Sculptures", 2019), making him the first artist that incorporated attributes of pop culture in high art ("Picasso Artworks & Famous Paintings & Sculptures", 2019). The words on the painting, “ma jolie” not only further flatten the space but also make it similar to a poster as the words are painted in a style that resembles that which is used for advertising purposes.
Besides, Braque and Picasso were collaborating by 1909 to create paintings of more significant interior scenes, encompassing musical references in the form of sheet music or musical instruments. Thus, Braque’s creation, “Violin and Palette” was an early work of Analytic Cubism whose aim was to further experiment with shallow spaces and the reduction of the colour palette, to encompass only earth tones like greys and neutral browns, which sort to flatten the space further. Moreover, in this piece, Braque’s attempt to show the same item from different points of view is undeniable. He uses some shading to establish an impression of bas-relief through the use of seemingly overlapping geometrical shapes. Furthermore, his choice to feature musical items in his painting is not only an influence of Cubism but also an expression of his training as a musician ("Cubism - Top Paintings and Sculptures", 2019).
References
Cubism - Top Paintings and Sculptures. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/movement-cubism-artworks.htm
Ma Jolie, 1911-1912 by Pablo Picasso. (2009). Retrieved from https://www.pablopicasso.org/ma-jolie.jsp
MoMA | Pablo Picasso. "Ma Jolie." Paris, winter 1911–12. Retrieved from https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/pablo-picaso-ma-jolie-paris-winter-1911-12/
Pablo Picasso Biography. (2009). Retrieved from https://www.pablopicasso.org/picasso-biography.jsp
Picasso Artworks & Famous Paintings & Sculptures. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/artist-picasso-pablo-artworks.htm
Violin and Palette by Georges Braque. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.georgesbraque.net/violin-and-palette/
Violin and Palette. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/673
