Humorous musician through Synthetic Cubism

Introduction

HarlequinMusicianis a paintingcreated by Pablo Picasso in 1924. This painting is in a good state preservation that is located in the National Gallery of Art Washington DC. Pablo Picasso createdHarlequin Mussician using oil paint on canvas that is 112.8cmx97,2cm in dimension. This painting was created in the cubism period and it is categorized as a synthetic cubism painting.Cubism is an abstract style of modern art, and Synthetic cubism is a second phase of cubism that characterized by the introduction of different textures, surfaces, collage elements, and a large variety of merged subject matter.Pablo Picasso uses asymmetrical composition, contrast in warm and cold colors, contrast in long and short lines, and different painting textures to create a synthetic cubism painting that emphasized a humorous guitar player called Harlequin Musician.

Humorous musician through Synthetic Cubism

The Harlequin Musician is urged by the asymmetrical composition that is heavy to the right. The painting is emphasized on the hands of the musician, the instrument, and the checkered clothes in a triangle compositional scheme. The bottom part of the arms of the couch forms a triangular frame for the Harlequin Musician. Usually the triangle scheme creates a very static composition, but Pablo Picasso breaks this static composition by using the strong diagonal string lines of the guitar that emerged the playful feeling of the artwork. In addition, two blocks of rectangles that are placed a little skewed behind the couch create the painting livelier. The dynamic atmosphere in the painting and the triangle scheme work as a spatial divider, it divides the attention to the Harlequin Musician. As a whole, this composition createsthe nibble characteristic that Harlequin is generally depicted.

The asymmetrical composition in this painting is dramatized by the warm colors that are ascending in the painting. The cool and descending colors in this painting are used to create the second-focus of the painting. The background and this painting is very neutral and grayish, in contrast to the Harlequin Musician in this painting, the musician is created by blatant vibrant colors such as different hues of red, orange and yellow. Colors also affect the perspective in this painting. Theidentifiable yellow and orange-checkered harlequin clothing creates the energetic atmosphere of the painting that the Harlequin has.The cool colors are overpowered by the warm colors that further create the main focus of the painting.

Color is one of the most important aspects in the creation of this piece because of its large scale and decorative images.But together with the different texture that Pablo Picasso use, the colors and textures create a central balance to this work of art. The application of smooth and rough surfaces is contrasted with one another in the painting. The rough surfaces are applied by the dark colored paint that is placed on the bottom left and upper right of the painting. These rough surfaces are opposite to of the cream soft color that dominates the top left and the neutral army green of the couch on the bottom right. Together, these ...