Vintage Ladies in Cubist Exhibitions: Pablo Picasso's Cubist Women and Judith Butler's Performativity

  • Samaneh Saeid Shiraz University
  • Laleh Atashi
Keywords: Cubism; naturalization; objectification; performativity; revolutionary

Abstract

As a prominent figure in the history of painting, Pablo Picasso has bestowed upon the world his uniquely striking paintings in different styles, the most revolutionary of which being his Cubist art. The representation of women occupies a significant space in Picasso’s Cubist works. While the painter’s style is highly revolutionary, rejecting the accepted principles of painting, the subject matter does not change as such: nude women are objectified with a cubist look. Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity which examines the roots of naturalized concepts of gender, has been applied to Picasso’s representations of women in his cubist paintings. This research examines the way naturalized definitions of gender have found their way into Picasso’s paintings.  By applying the Butlerian concept of gender performativity to a number of Picasso’s cubist artworks, we try to indicate how stereotypes of gender linger in the discourse of modernism. Analyses lead to the conclusion that although the cubist style of painting is an experimentation in form, hardly any avant-gardism can be traced in the representation of gendered identities in Picasso.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Arbiter, P. (1917) A Degenerate Work of Art: A Cubist Creation. The Art World, 1(6), pp. 426-427, 424. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25587822.
Bailif, L. (n.d.). personal interview. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKquUggzqpg.
Butler, J. (1988). Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory.TheatreJournal,40(4),519-531.Retrieved from:
https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/1650/butler_performative_acts.pdf.
Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York:
Routledge.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of the “sex.” New York: Routledge.
Chave, A. C. (1994). New Encounters with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon: Gender, Race, and the Origins of Cubism. The Art Bulletin, 76(4), 596-611. Retrieved from:
http://www.artworlds.org/ab/resources/ah340-s12/014chave.pdf.
Desmond, W. (2001). Ethics and the In between. New York: State University of New York Press.
Golding, John. (1980 December). Picasso’s Distortions. The Unesco Courier. 20-23. Retrieved
from:http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0007/000747/074766eo.pdf.
Hudson, M. (2016 April 8). Pablo Picasso: women are either goddesses or doormats. Retrieved from:https://www.telegraph.co.uk/art/artists/pablo-picasso-women-are-either-goddesses-or-doormats/.
Krauss, R. (1992). The Motivation of Signs. Picasso and Baroque A Symposium. In L. Zelevansky (Ed.), New York: Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved from:
https://monoskop.org/images/f/fc/Krauss_Rosalind_1992_The_Motivation_of_the_Sign.Pdf.
Nancy, H. (2015). Picasso Love, Sex and Art. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSCopzsBC9c.
Pennisi, N. (n.d.) Picasso and Africa: How African Art Influenced Pablo Picasso and His Work. Retrieved from:
https://www.palmbeachstate.edu/honors/Documents/Picasso_and_Africa_How_frican_Art_Influeced_Pablo_Picasso_and_His_Work_NadeenPennisi.pdf.
Reff, Theodor. (1973). Themes of Love and Death in Picasso’s Early Works. Retrieved from:
https://www.artforum.com/contributor/theodore-reff.
William, R. (1983). From Narrative to “Iconic” in Picasso: The Buried Allegory in Bread and
Fruitdish on a Table and the Role of Les Demoiselles d'Avignon,
The Art Bulletin, 65(4), 615-649, DOI: 10.1080/00043079.1983.10788115.
Salih, S. (2006). On Judith Butler and Performativity. 55-68. Retrieved from:
https://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Salih-Butler-Performativity-
Chapter_3.pdf.
Schneider, D, E. (1947-48). The Painting of Pablo Picasso: A Psychoanalytic Study. College Art Association, 7(2), 81-95. Retrieved from:
http://dvalentin.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/81287423/Picasso%20A%20Psychoanal ytic%20Study.pdf.
Umland, Anne. (2012). Picasso Girl Before A Mirror. {Review of the painting Girl Before A
Mirror by P.Picasso}. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
Published
2020-07-12
How to Cite
Saeid, S., & Atashi, L. (2020). Vintage Ladies in Cubist Exhibitions: Pablo Picasso’s Cubist Women and Judith Butler’s Performativity. K@ta, 22(1), 28-35. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9744/kata.22.1.28-35
Section
Articles