art Flashcards
Influences 1 viewpoints
A major influence in Picasso’s painitng ‘I love Eva’ was the cubist style/movement. Cubist painters had multiple viewpoints in their paintings. We can see how the cubist style is evident in ‘I love evsa’ because there are multiple viewpoints. The viewer can see the gutitar strings as though they are directly eyelevel but can also see the bottom right of the guitar at an upward angle and the left side of the guitar all in the one painting.
Influences 2 subject matter
Cubist artists had favourite subjects which they revisited again and again. Their subject matter often depicted the modern world and music was one of these subjects. The still life subject for ‘I love Eva’ was music. The main object in the painting is a guitar.
Influences 3 love
Obviously a major influence on Picasso’s creation of ‘I love Eva’ was his love for Eva. The title is I love Eva so we know from this Eva influenced Picasso. His choice of subject matter, music, is reminiscent of romantic love and serenading. The curvacious shape of the guitar could also be said to mimic the female form.
Influences 4 shades and colour
Cubist artists often used tints and shades for dramatic effect and often used monochromatic, muted, tertiary colours. ‘I love Eva’ reflects the cubist style as there are areas where Picasso has used strong tints and shades for dramatic effect. Dramatic shadows and sharp highlights can be seen in ‘I love Eva. There is a very strong shadow on the bottom right of the guitar which juts the object forward. The guitar strings have sharp white highlights which helps to draw the eye making this the focal point. Picasso used a wide range of tones to create a monochromatic look. His colour choice is also typically cubist as his palette is muted.
colour
the colours in the painting are fairly calm and muted. Picasso used shades and tints to give the painting a monochromatic feel. The guitar is much warmer than the background as it is painted in warm advancing golden tones. The warm tones could be symbolic of the warmth of his love for Eva. The background is colder as Picasso uses more grey tones. Picasso uses colour to make the guitar the focal point of the composition. The warmth of the colour used to depict the guitar contrasts with the colder background and this makes the guitar stand out on the canvas.
Technique
Picasso has painted the surface of the painting in many different ways. Sometimes the paint is thin and washed down with turpentine and stains the canvas light brown. Picasso has scraped the surface of the canvas to create and show texture. The use of thick paint in the centre hole of the guitar makes it stand out instead of feeling deep and hollow.
Texture
Picasso applies paint to create texture. The grain of the wood is emphasized with long sweeping brushstrokes. The texture of the weood is detailed to show its importance. The brushwork varies throughout the canvas, the top right corner has dabbed stippled brushwork and some areas have no texture.
Tone and form
Picasso has used a wide range of tones. He has used strong shadows and highlights to create dramatic effect. He has graduated his tone smoothly from light to dark in various parts of the painting. He has used this technique at the curved edge of the guitar which helps draw the viewers eye to the centre of the painting. Although he has used a wide range of tones he has been selective about where he applies his tone. Some panels, like the one at the bottom of the painting have very little tone and appear completely flat. The variety of tones make the painting interesting to look at.
