Picasso "Girl Before Mirror"

The painting “Girl Before a Mirror” by Picasso is of a young girl named Marie Therese Walter. It was painted during the early 1930’s. When I first saw this painting, I was drawn to it immediately because of its bold shapes and vibrant colors. I also felt overwhelmed by this painting. Picasso has a very unique style of painting; it is a style that is easily differentiated from other pieces. His paintings are made of so many different shapes, shades and colors. It made my mind think multiple feelings towards the image at once.

Picasso painted his mistress Marie Therese Walter multiple times during the 1930’s. “Girl Before a Mirror” was painted during Picasso’s cubism period. Picasso was an artist that was very bold with his artwork. Even with backgrounds that are normally placed to be a backdrop and mainly they’re to assist the main subject. He includes it within the painting to make it just as intense as the main focal point of the image. In this particular case his mistress.

When you look closely at the image, you can interpret many different symbols within different parts of the painting. The woman’s face for one; is painted with a side profile and a full frontal image. One side shows the day time where she seems more like a woman, dolled up with her make up done. The other side with the rough charcoal texture portrays her at night. When she takes off the mask of makeup, and is more vulnerable as a young lady. One way of interpreting the painting is when the woman looks at herself in the mirror; she is seeing herself as an old woman. From the green discoloration on her forehead, darkening of her facial features to the lines that show that her young body has been distorted, and gravity has taken its rightful place. Another way of viewing the painting is that she is self-conscious, and she sees all the flaws in herself that the