2.

10 Picasso’s early painting and its

Expressionist qualities
Gypsy Girl on the Beach, Pablo Picasso, 1898, Private collection,
Paris (Colour Plate 2 of textbook)

This picture was painted while Picasso was still in Barcelona.

Some would also describe the slightly later Blue and Rose periods
of his work, which came before Cubism, as Expressionist. In this
picture, it is the use of colour particularly that creates the
emotional effect.

A closer look
Describe some of the colour contrasts that contribute to the
emotional atmosphere of this painting.
What difference does the darkness of the girl’s face make to
the effect of the picture?

Individual activity: Pulling it all together

Try to pull the elements in this section on Expressionism
together. Do you think some aspects were more important
for Picasso than others? He also looked at the work of
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, another artist whose expressive
style he admired.

Go to this website to see more examples of Spanish

Romanesque painting.

Consider the significance of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in

the light of what we have discussed in this unit.