Artwork Comparative Essay Example

People are created differently, have different thinking as well as tastes and preferences in life. Similarly, artists of the nineteenth century such as Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali are characterized by similarities and differences in their paintings. Picasso and Dali are the most famous artists of the modern art. Born in the same country, Spain with a big age difference of around 23 years (Pablo Picasso in 1881 and Salvador Dali in 1904), the duo were great artists who shocked the modern art with their creativity. Although many people viewed their ideological differences as competition, Picasso and Dali influenced each other in their career. Picasso and Dali had talents and passion in painting, and they always enjoyed turning science knowledge into art. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the artworks "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" by Pablo Picasso and "Illumined Pleasures" by Salvador Dali. I will first analyze each work and then compare and contrast the two.

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"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" is the work of Pablo Picasso painted in 1907. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is a large oil painting measuring 244cm by 233cm that was painted on canvas. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is a figurative painting of five naked female prostitutes on a brothel in the city of Barcelona (Picasso). This painting portrays a comfortless mosaic of a composite picture of five female nudes with two of them painted looking at the viewer in a provocative and seductive manner. The painting portrays a blend of cubist style and savage masks which challenges and shakes the viewer. The arrangements of figures in Les Demoiselles d'Avignon makes a very strong impression on the viewer. They portray no sense of connection, an aspect that heightens the cinematic nature of the painting while making it look uncertain. The two middle women look at the viewer provocatively while lifting their arms to show off the breasts (Sayre). This presents real prostitutes on a brothel in Barcelona who is having nothing to offer except flaunting their nudity to attract customers. Picasso's use of flat, shard images while incorporating dark and white patterns portrays his mastery of cubist art style which enables the onlookers to view the picture from different angles. This work is traditionally portrayed as Picasso's significant move towards his famous cubist style, a move that saw Picasso become the leader of avant-garde art in Paris, France (Rubin). Picasso is thought to have used his intellectual expressionism in this painting perhaps to combat immoral behavior of prostitution.

On the other hand, Illumined Pleasures is an oil painting created by the Spanish artist Salvador Dali in the year 1929 (LaFountain). It is a small painting measuring 24cm by 34.5cm. Dali portrays his miniaturist talent when he manages to compress all the details of the painting into the small canvas measuring 10inch by 14inch. Additionally, Salvador Dali exhibits his mastery of surrealism style by juxtaposing different images in this work which gives it the startling effect. Dali uses a middlebox in Illuminated Pleasures that resembles the one he used in his previous work "The Great Masturbator" that he had done the same year. The left side of this picture has a box from which a man is shown shooting at a rock which is a symbol of a person's head that is shown with blood flowing from the holes that are injuries by the bullet. In this painting, Deli has employed a blend of art and literature to express his theme. He has used a lot of symbolism including where the blood is presented flowing from the nose and head which symbolizes fear (Nouzeilles). Also, Dali's work is filled with violent and frenzied energetic images with the picture on the background showing a struggling couple with a woman's hand full of blood.

It is evident that Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso and Illumined Pleasures by Salvador Dali have some differences. Picasso used geometric features that portrays his work as a segmentation with different points of view. This implies his great prowess on use of cubist style, unlike Salvador Dali whose work is anchored on surrealism style. Additionally, Picasso's work show innovation in painting and sculpture whereas Dali's work is based on eccentricity in the paint. Picasso's use of different colors makes his work impressive and attracts the viewer's attention (Albright). On the other hand, Dali has majored in use of symbolism to deliver the message in his paintings. The two styles are pivotal to the modern art. That is why Deli's and Picasso's work has shaped the modern art. Picasso's work was characterized by blue and red colors unlike Deli's.

However, the two paintings have some similarities regarding the message. In their work, both Picasso and Deli painted about real things and perhaps brought the message of prostitution and life struggles respectively. The two artists focused on the impression of their paintings to the viewers and did everything to make them capture onlookers' eyes.

In conclusion, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso and Illumined Pleasures by Salvador Dali are pivotal works of the modern art. They are similar in several ways and still have differences that especially in style used by the artists.

Works Cited

Albright, Daniel. Putting Modernism Together: Literature, Music, and Painting. ( 2015).

LaFountain, Marc J. Dali and postmodernism: this is not an essence.( 2016.)

Nouzeilles, Gabriela. "Theaters of Pain: Violence and Photography." PMLA (2016)

Picasso, Pablo. Picasso's: Les Demoiselles D'Avignon. . Washington, ( 2001).

Rubin, William. "he Genesis of'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon.'"." Studies in Modern Art (1994).

Sayre, Henry M. "AWorld of Art." (2013).