Pablo Picasso: Nude on a Black Chair

Pablo Picasso was an influential artist of the twentieth century.  He is well known for his style, which involved the frequent fragmentation and distortion of his subjects.  In doing this, he would often ignore traditional perspective in order to create many angles within an artwork. His oil painting Nude on a Black Chair demonstrates a powerful use of line and rhythm.  One can observe the creation of contour, pattern, texture, and direction.  The simple lines are bold and successfully describe the abstract form.  Even though there is a lack of natural contour line in the work, the female form is made clear through the use of obvious curvilinear lines. 

Pattern can be found at work in the nude figure’s hair.  This pattern is made possible through the repetition and close placement of the lines that create rhythm.  However, this is not the only portion of the painting in which one sees rhythm by way of line.  It can be observed in the painting as a whole with the unified use of each curvilinear line.  The few lines in Nude on a Black Chair that are vertical in direction help to give the painting stability and structure.  Along with line, texture and pattern aid in the all-important establishment of rhythm.  This is most clearly viewed within the leaf-like abstractions behind the nude figure.  Picasso’s brush strokes are visible and make a textural pattern within them.  This piece illustrates line, rhythm, contour, texture, pattern, and direction in a successful and aesthetically pleasing manner.

Pablo Picasso.
Nude on a Black Chair, 1932.
Oil on canvas, 162 x 130 cm.
Private collection.