Allison CampbellDr. Susan CaldwellReadings in 20th-Century ArtMarch 12, 2013Portrait of Daniel-Henry KahnweilerPablo Picassos Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, featuring the famous art dealer, is commonly used as model for analytical cubism. Housed permanently at the Art Institution of Chicago the painting was completed in Paris in the year 1910. The portrait is a study in the reduction of detail dissolving into geometric forms. Straight and angular lines penetrate the monochromatic sepia tones; while the lines do not completely enclose the space around them, a suggestion of flat planes is seen throughout the painting. An ambiguous composition is constructed by building forms from the background up to the foreground, yet areas also recede as lines overlap and intersect frontal planes. Recognizable check bones, hair and clasped hands give an accessible form of Kahnweiler for audience members. Picasso uses hard lines and flattened forms instead of rendering the flesh of the subject in naturalistic or neo-classical style with color, light, and chiaroscuro in traditional portraiture like Ingres or David. A new solution to the treatment of space is seen with Kahnweilers features pulled to the surface of the picture plane. This demystification of portraiture is a direct influence from Czanne, who treated his subjects in his paintings into objective flat forms. Kahnweilers exterior form is a disjointed, deconstructed examination of physical human existence. Picasso may have been exploring the human experience, with infinite sensations simultaneously taking in new information while recalling memories. The portrait Kahnweiler, who was Picassos art dealer for a time, may possibly be Picassos memories of the man as well as his present state while he was painted. Instead of physical representation, the deconstruction of Kahnweiler does not necessary match the physical resemblance. Picasso opens his portrait of Kahnwiler up into more than the outside form of flesh. The dark lines expose the skeleton or scaffolding of Picassos process while also suggesting a human shape. Instead of using the lines and geometric shapes to decorate the surface, Picasso finds a way to give a tangible form without using illusionary, representational techniques such as linear or atmospheric perspective. The intersection of planes is critical to the visual idea of materiality. Instead of blending different areas together to structure a solid composition, Picasso intersects geometric shapes and hardedge lines to break apart the organization of the overall work. Czanne used the technique of passage to break up the contours that define objects so that surfaces flow together. Picasso uses this technique to fuse the background and foreground; Kahnweiler is present throughout the painting taking on more than just a human form. Picasso does not falter from the fact that a flat canvas is used to capture his portrait. He said this painting In its original form it looked to me as though it were about to up in smoke. But when I paint smoke. I want you to be able to drive a nail into it. So I added more attributesa suggestion of the eyes, the wave of the hair, an ear lobe, the clasped handsso now you [drive a nail into it][footnoteRef:-1]. This creates a tension allowing the viewer to complete the work by simultaneously breaking the composition down and finding relationships between the formal elements. The strokes of paint capture the passivity and wetness of oil, and the luminosity of skin is captured without using the color pink. [-1: Taking from label text from Art Institute of Chicago exhibition Picasso and Chicago]

Many critics who wrote on cubism, including Kahweiler, felt that many audience members could not understand cubism without teaching themselves how to look at the new style. Kahnweiler felt that viewers imaginations would take over. He felt that viewers would have to be taught that a higher importance on the deconstruction of natural forms could give a suggestion of their original state. This suggestion is an important bridge between the painter and the viewer. His canvas of Kahnweiler portrays a moldable subject matter in multiply layers. Picassos analytic cubist style is an exploration of a suggestion for the brain to complete an object for the eye.