What do you see?• a baboon, a horse, a dog or a gift?

– the monumental sculpture was donated to the city of chicago by pablo picasso, as he refused payment for the design

– it stands 50 ft and is located in the daley plaza – picasso completed a maquette (scale model) of the

sculpture in 1965

• use of 3d space and a challenge to perception – the sculpture is of a french woman who posed for

picasso in the 1950s– as a viewer walks around the sculpture it is possible

to see multiple angles of the woman’s face: portrait, three-quarter angle, profile etc.

– the viewer must interact with the piece by circling it, in order to see the different angles and experience the use of space

the shoulders follow similar curves to the hair creating balance and symmetry

the ¾ viewthe hair is created by these shapes

The Chicago Picasso

note the representation of two irises in the same eye

the silhouette, creates the profile

again, the edge creates the profile

cubism and space • the impetus for cubism

– conventional/traditional artwork is illusionary for it represents a flattened version of space

– the eye and the mind do not see in flat renderings, but see multiple dimensions: width, height, depth and time

• cubism is a way of perceiving – cubism experiments with perception, spatial

awareness and conception – cubism challenges the relationship between

ratio and reason through its rendering of planes, ambiguous spaces, negative and positive spaces/shapes, and juxtaposing multiple vantage points simultaneously