Picasso’s Primitivism
Picasso’s primitivism was existing in several stages such as young Picasso’s drawings, which are represented by the influence of Gauguin and Iberian traditions, culture, and sculptures, Africanism (Blue and Rose periods), Cubism, and Analytic Cubism, which involved a high level of complexity and philosophical sense in the portrayal of the objects and figures. Nevertheless, the first stage, which is mentioned above, does not count as the primary one since it covers the beginning of Picasso’s style of the artist and his ability to express his ideas and feelings by emphatically referring to Iberian culture and being inspired by Gauguin paintings and ability to use the color pallet. As for the knowledge of African/Oceanic traditions and geographical location of these ethnicities, Picasso and his friends lacked the clear understanding of the African culture, often referred to it as Egyptian tradition and basics of human portrayal, and understood it as being magical, exotics, fetishistic, alien, and foreign. Nonetheless, Picasso had a tendency to deny the influence of the African culture in his paintings, and It could be said that the primary reason for the denial of the African tradition is the fact that Picasso implied that he wanted to underline his interest in the Iberian tradition, and did not wish to show that his works were highly inspired by the foreign culture due to political and patriotic influences.
Masks and figures referring to the composition of demoiselles on the Picasso’s works
There are several masks and figures, which Rubin cites to refer to the composition of demoiselles on the Picasso’s works, such as mask from Etounbi region (People’s Republic of Congo), mask Dan (Ivory Coast or Liberia), Susu mask (Guinea), figure Teke (People’s Republic of Congo), mask Grebo (Ivory Coast or Liberia), figure Baga (Guinea), figure Tiki (Marquesas Islands), fan handles (Marquesas Islands), mask Fang, head Fang (Gabon or Equatorial Guinea), reliquary figure Fang (Gabon or Equatorial Guinea), and the majority of the figures and masks appeared in France and Belgium in 1890-1900s. As for the establishment of the differences between affinity and influence, in this case, Rubin implies that affinity is not a direct influencer but a combination of various dogmas, traditions, and symbols, which contribute to the portrayal of the already existing object. As for the influencers, it could be said that in this case, Rubin presents various masks and figures to show Picasso’s ability to get inspired by already existing objects by examining them and discovering their features in detail.
Expression of emotional state with the help of paintings, drawings and sculptures by Picasso
It could be said that Picasso and Basque learned that the portrayal of objects and figures could be more complex, involve sophisticated meaning and higher plasticity, encourage encoding of the meaning and usage of various material, and express the analytical ideas through the simplicity of shape and a combination of dissimilar objects. It is evident that the tribal objects involved simplicity, but in this case, the portrait of Olga suggested usage of the particular objects, as they were associated with her personality. In could be said that the Picasso’s painting in the analytical Cubism phase involved more feelings and help him express his attitude towards Olga and Marie-Terese, as they were playing significant roles in his life by affecting his personality, way of thinking, perceptions of life, and changing his understanding of the importance of various aspects of the world and ability to express his emotional state with the assistance of paintings, drawings, and sculpture.