Fernande

Fernande is one of the first large scale sculptures made after the model of Picassos then mistress Fernande Olivier. Even though the head depicted as a bulky mass seems rather traditional in its classical facial features a new orientation already announces itself here which ultimately will result in the cubist fragmentations of form. While the nose and the lower part of the face are boldly modelled, the peripheral zones almost disperse with the dissolution of form. The delicate texture of the skin is achieved by pressing tulle into wet clay. Picasso sets off against each other in stark contrast of the two halves of the face. The left is far more amorphous in comparison to the right boldly modelled side, the almond shaped eye finely engraved with the knife and the edge of the forehead let standing: lifelike reproduction versus artistic expressivity. In the asymmetric pattern between open and completely modelled side the formal principle is already hinted at, which some months later will become a major feature of the pioneering work „Les demoiselles d’Avignon“. Picasso confronts the observer with two contrasting visual impressions, the more sensuous, more tangibly worked right is better visible from the same distance than the left.