Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was painted in 1907 and is the most famous example of cubism painting. The Demoiselles is generally referred to as the first Cubist picture. This is an exaggeration, for although it was a major first step towards Cubism it is not yet Cubist. The disruptive, expressionist element in it is even contrary to the spirit of Cubism, which looked at the world in a detached, realistic spirit. In this painting, Picasso abandoned all known forms and representations of traditional art. It marks a radical break from traditional composition and perspective in painting. It depicts five naked women composed of flat, splintered planes whose faces were inspired by Iberian sculpture and African masks. The compressed space they inhabit appears to project forward in jagged shards, while a slice of melon in the still life at the bottom of the composition teeters on an upturned tabletop. The Avignon of the work’s title is a reference to a street in Barcelona famed for its brothels. Instead of the title originally chosen by Picasso, Le Bordel d'Avignon who always referred to it as Mon Bordel ("my brothel").

This carving, portraying the Les Demoiselles D'Avignon has been carved from blue sapphire, sourced from Madagascar.