Pablo Picasso - Woman with a Fan - 1908 - 152 x 101 cm - oil on canvas

This is an excellent example of how Picasso permitted others to influence his development.  We not only see the pushing of Cezanne’s spacial planes, we also see his collaboration with Matisse on this intriguing challenge. (see my Oct.19th post) and we also see their mutual reaching for the powerful stirrings we sense in primitive art which I will discuss in future postings.

Picasso uses a spatial shift by having the figure’s shoulders on different levels.  By having the left shoulder lower and the front plane carry across her chest, provides the feeling of her right shoulder being on a different plane.  Try to feel the space more than the depth,(blurring your vision may help).  You may also feel the front of her dress come forward as well. The push and pull of the planes is superb.  We sense her dress coming forward and then her left arm coming forth. Can you feel the shift?

Picasso’s superb use of integration of the figure, the chair and the background is fantastic.  The entire composition avoids the static feel because spatial planes are closer to our reality than perspective.   I hope you can sense this.

I find it interesting that the wonderful consideration of spatial planes requires reduction to succeed.