Gender and Race in Picasso's Les Demoiselles Assignment

Gender and Race in Picasso's Les Demoiselles - Assignment Example The paper "Gender and Race in Picasso's Les Demoiselles" provide Chave's analysis of the painting. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was rejected at first and was hidden for more than three decades as people saw what it portrayed was simply not in accordance with their beliefs. They believed that the naked women were not a good; it was an indirect attack to the prostitutes. Chaves objective is to view the picture from a different angle which was not allowed. She uses the picture to show various facts of gender and race and how they are brought out clearly in a picture that was painted so many decades ago yet so relevant in the occurrences that have taken place in the world. Mimicry is the act of copying what one is doing, their speech, look or even their actions. Minstrelsy on the other hand is whereby the Americans acted or performed skits and other acts in blackface. Picasso’s art in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon is an act of mimicry and minstrelsy whereby; using the two w omen on the right-hand side of the picture, he gives an exaggerated representation using the African masks which are sacred. This mimicry is to show that these women simply are African women being perceived as prostitutes. Mimicry is one of the most effective and an unrecognizable form of power that colonialists used as at a first glance it shows both resemblance and menace. They have the turbans which are usually worn by African women which is a continuous mimicry of African women. In Les Demoiselles, Minstrelsy is also seen where it makes fun of the clients.