Which artist created “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon,” considered a foundational work of Cubism?
Pablo Picasso
"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" marked a radical break from artistic tradition and is considered the precursor to the Cubist movement. What is particularly captivating is that when Picasso first presented the work to his artist friends and critics in 1907, it was largely poorly received, with some finding it grotesque and immoral. The painting was inspired by African art, which Picasso had discovered at the Museum of Ethnography at the Trocadéro in Paris. This influence is seen in the facial masks of the figures, a feature that shocked the audience of the time. Picasso kept the work almost hidden for nearly nine years before making it public, foreshadowing the aesthetic upheaval it would cause in the art world.
