Demoiselles d’Avignon, Les, is a painting by the Spanish-born artist Pablo Picasso that became a landmark in the history of art. Picasso completed the oil-on-canvas painting in 1907. The large picture stands 8 feet (2.44 meters) high and 7 feet 8 inches (2.34 meters) wide. It is part of the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon marked a decisive break with traditional notions of beauty and harmony in art. Five female nudes stand in a shallow space. Picasso began the painting out of an impulse to combine classical sculpture with the raw, expressive power of African masks.
The inspiration of African art, first demonstrated in Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, became a major influence in the European and American art of the 1900’s. The breakup of the five female figures into planes and sharp edges contributed to the development of Cubism, a style that was pioneered by Picasso and the French painter Georges Braque.
