Objective Critique

    Picasso’s Head of a Woman is a portrait of Dora Maar done from the shoulders up. The painting is done using oil on canvas in the cubist style. We can see the subject in a three-quarters pose, facing the viewer’s left, and reading a book in front of what appears to be a window and a maroon wall. She is supporting her head with her right hand and holding the book with the left. She is wearing a green dress and what looks like a necklace. She has shoulder length black hair that is combed away from her face and tucked behind her ears.  Her nose is the most prominent feature on her face and looks to be done in a frontal view. Her eyes are slightly larger than normal the right eye is also done in what appears to be a front view, while the left matches the position she is facing.  She has red lips and seems to be smiling.  In this painting Picasso uses complimentary colors to create contrast, he does this with the use of green on her dress and the red of the wall and her lips. We also see him using value to create balance, the bright shades of the window and book balance the darker colors used in the rest of the piece.  Another element of art we see used here is shape, here Picasso uses the shape of her nose to create emphasis and bring the viewer’s eye back to Dora Maar’s face.