Picasso and The African Period

Following the Rose Period came Picasso's African period in which he focused in what he considered "Primitive Art" especially african masks. His paintings rendered in a muted pallette of reds and browns. During this period in time the French empire was expanding to Africa and many african artifacts were being shipped back to Paris, where Picasso got to see many unique forms of art. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon was Picasso's most remarkable acchievement during the African Period. However in 1907 his paintings were considered extremely daring. Even his fellow painters reacted negatively to his Picasso's works of art. Henri Matisse, in fact, believed Picasso was trying to ridicule the modern movement. http://ezinearticles.com/?Pablo-Picasso---The-African-Period&id=1170794

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (The Young Women of Avignon) began as a narrative brothel scene with five prostitutes and two men. The painting, however, began to metamorph as Picasso continued to work on it. The two women at the right were influenced by african masks Piccasso saw. His interpretation of African art was based on the idea of African savagery  as we notice his brush strokes become hacking, impetuous, and violent. http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/picasso/section5.rhtml

http://smarthistory.org/les-demoiselles-davignon.html