comments of Salmon , shed light on the intensity of the project; ?....He became uneasy , He turned his canvases to the wall and threw down his paintbrushes. For many long days and nights , he drew....Never was labor less rewarded with joy , and without his former youthful enthusiasm Picasso undertook a large canvas that was intended to be the fruit of his experiments.? 3 Every aspect of the painting was carefully planned and executed. One might compare his trial and error method to that of a scientific experiment. His study began in late 1906. Over the next year Les Demoiselles d?Avignon?s details went through many changes and modifications. In Picasso?s own words; "According to my first idea, there were also going to be men in the painting. There was a student holding a skull, and a sailor. The women were eating--that explains the basket of fruit that is still in the painting. Then it changed and became what it is now." Picasso eventually decided to exclude the two male figures , as he felt they were trying to present some kind of moral to the painting.4 Instead he focused on the five nude female figures that we see today. It is important to note that Picasso hated the title Les Demoiselles d?Avignon. Originally he did not have a title in mind for the painting. The name was created by his friend Andre Salmon He felt that Les Demoiselles d?Avignon was much to gentle. It detracted from the harsh and ugly reality that the painting represented.5 Eventually he accepted the name due to his friends constant use of it. Picasso finally finished the work in July of 1907. He of course invited all his closest friends to take a look at his revolutionary painting. His friends , whom were considered contemporary avante-garde painters and connoisseurs , were shocked. Gertrude Stein was speechless. Shchukin ,the Russian art collector cried ,"What a loss for French art!". His future partner in cubism commented that painting in su...
