| Artist: | Picasso, Pablo |
|
|---|---|---|
| Title of Work: | Study of a Torso, after a Plaster Cast | |
| Date of Work: | 1894-1895 | |
| Nationality: | Spanish | |
| Context: | The Turn of the Century | |
| Movement: | Picasso: Early Work (1894-1900) | |
| Medium: | drawing | |
| Subject: early academic drawing done after a plaster cast of a classical Greek sculpture from antiquity. Done as part of his application to the Barcelona School of Fine Arts; Picasso was 13 or 14 at the time and very much under the guidance of his father. Style: carefully modeled figure study using chiaroscuro shadows and highlights to render a volumetric plasticity. Traditional and academic in style. Context: an example of Picasso as a child prodigy, but also a telling example of how well he could draw the figure from an academic standpoint. If he deviates from that standard in the future, it is because he chooses an alternative aesthetic. Picasso has not yet been to Paris or exposed to modern art. | ||
