Related Picassos - La Vie, 1903

	La Vie, 1903
If you've found this site useful, we'd really appreciate a small donation to help with the hosting costs. Thanks!	The 1934 Drawing and its Correspondences in Picasso's Oeuvre La Vie, 1903 This is another so called exorcism painting, it depicts two females, one who is naked and in a partial embrace with her lover, and the other who is clothed and carrying a baby in her arms. In between them stands the artist Casagemas pointing at the baby. In the background are two canvases, one shows a grieving couple and the other a crumpled figure in a state of distress. From the preparatory studies for the painting it becomes evident that the depicted artist was originally intended to be Picasso, whose depicted lover is heavily pregnant. In one of these studies, the male figure has upraised arms in a gesture suggestive of crucifixion, the principal theme of the 1934 drawing. The drawing is without doubt a reworking of "La Vie", in which the depicted artist is similarly positioned between two females and confronted by a pregnancy, he is also pointing a finger in the direction of his pregnant lover. Although its pregnancy motifs are not immediately apparent, they are alluded to in the drawing by the female on the left holding her slightly convex belly and by the concealed baby's bottle in the upper centre of the composition. In both pictures, the central and left hand figures appear very concerned by the consequences of their sexual attraction for each other, and the figures on the right appear to represent a threat in the guise of an aggrieved partner exposing their partner's infidelity. There is an added suggestion in "La Vie," that the female on the right, is a dark portent of the future. © Mark Harris 1996, 1997 Related Picassos The Burial of Casagemas (Evocation), 1901 The Embrace, 1901 La Vie, 1903 Phallus and Nude, 1903 The Mackerel, 1903 Les Desmoiselles d'Avignon, 1907 Curtain Design for Parade, 1917 Pantomime Horse Studies for Parade, 1917 - Related Puppetry Imagery Costume Studies for Pulchinella, 1920 The Three Dancers, 1925 The Three Dancers in depth La Statuaire, 1925 The Studio, 1925 Crucifixion, 1930 Crucifixion Studies of the 1930's The Vollard Suite Classical Prints of the 1920's and 1930's The Dream, 1932 Le Meurtre, 1934 and The Death of Marat, 1934 Minotaur with Javelin, 1934 Minotauromachy, 1936 Picasso's illustrations of Paul Eluard's poem, "La Barre d'Appui", 1936 Guernica, 1937 Guernica in depth Picasso's Secret Guernica Night Fishing in Antibes, 1939 Curtain Design for Romain Rolland's Play,"Le 14 Juillet", 1936 Grand air, Les yeux fertiles, 1936 Erotic Compositions of the 1950's and 1960's Peace, 1952 Picasso's Bestiary Next Section: Themes of the 1934 Drawing

	© Mark Harris 1996 (content), Simon Banton 1996 (design) In general copyright of works by Pablo Picasso are the property of the heirs to the Pablo Picasso estate