“Two women running along the beach” or simply “Running” is a picture that, surprisingly, belongs to the period of classicism in the works of Picasso. It is surprising, because it was during this period that the famous more “traditional” portraits of Olga Khokhlova were created, amazing scenery for the ballets, created under the influence of cubic trends, but which had lost the features of realism, still lifes.
According to Gertrude Stein, Picasso’s girlfriend and the famous patron of the arts, the classic period of the master can be called the “period of big women”. Magnificent, exaggerated female nature is exaggerated – the leitmotif of many works of the artist, such as “The Big Bather”, “Sitting Woman”, “Sitting Nude, Wiping Feet”. Of course, “Running” – the most famous painting, this style.
The painting was painted at a seaside resort in Brittany, where Picasso, along with his wife and son, went to change the boring atmosphere of Fontainebleau.
Pure tones were used in this work, especially the rich blue color, which depicts both the sea and the sky, merging together. The beach is depicted somewhat schematically, wide broaching strokes more clearly create a rocky surface than a sandy one.
All this intentional simplification of the background is intended to focus the viewer’s attention on the main characters. This is not even the ladies of the famous “Rubens” forms – the women of Picasso are more puffy. Despite the huge figures in them, the bulkiness and immobility are not readable; on the contrary, the heroines are rapidly moving, obeying some unknown impulse, holding hands, and throwing back their heads with developing hair. The shirts on the women either got off, or if they were completely torn from the run, their full breasts are visible. However, the heroines do not care – they are free in their movement, and in their feelings.
Subsequently, the image of the painting “Running” was transferred to the set for the ballet “Blue Express”, staged in 1924. By the way, the performance was a great success, the performance was unusual and exotic. Coco Chanel herself worked on the costumes;
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