ly captivated by the African masks and the power that they had.14 The influence of the masks on the two women on the right is very obviously from this experience. Both masks share the same African facial features. They both have long wedge noses and small rounded mouths. The upper mask is also missing ears , which was typical of African masks.Overall the masks do not represent anything in particular. Their ethnic qualities just happened to be of interest to Picasso at the time of Les Demoiselles d?Avignon. He was simply experimenting with different techniques. This does not mean that they are not important to the painting. They are the final touch on the horrible distortions of Les Demoiselles d?AvignonAll of the aspects above created the most radical rethinking of painting since linear perspective was invented. Les Demoiselles d?Avignon shows us more then we can see. The viewer is frozen in the shapes and lines that normally would give him or her some breathing room. Picasso eliminated the thought process that older paintings forced the viewer to go through. Our thoughts are already on the canvas. Picasso tapped into our memories and presented them before we can think of them. He think distorts them heavily. This is why the painting is so moving. He takes our thoughts and everything that is natural and normal and imposes his twisted view on them. Our ever familiar visual perspective that governs our sight is dismantled leaving us unable to find our way out of the painting. The familiar figure of our bodies is mangled and unfamiliar. I consider this painting to be an assault. He assaults our confidence in what we think we know. After viewing the African masks in the Trocadero, Picasso is quoted as saying ?They were against everything-against unknown , threatening spirits....I understood ; I to am against everything. I to believe that everything is unknown , that everything is an enemy!.....the fetishes were wea...
