Reconstruction:La Vie (Picasso)

You are reading a reconstruction.

Quick guide (IMPORTANT): please read our quick reading guide.

Spoiler note: we advocate a “spoilers don’t matter” stance. Read more about it.

Copyright note: we do NOT generally own the rights to the reconstructed content. Reproduction is made under the provisions of fair use for educational purposes.

For more info on reconstructions, we refer you to our manifesto or the online book.

Two couples are <opposed>⁠DEF as verticalities: the naked adult couple on the left, and the mother and child on the right. The <opposition> is marked by <convexities>⁠DEF that follow the contour of figures painted in <light>⁠DEF colors: the naked bodies (the couple on the left and the paintings in the middle) and the <convex> <unity>⁠DEF of the mother cradling the child in contrast to the mother’s non-<light> clothing.

Horizontal <conjunctions>⁠DEF are defined by horizontal bands supported by the canvases in the background: (1) the woman on the left and the child, and (2) the man and the woman on the right, whose <conjunction> is enforced by the perfect alignment of the heads:

Then the sight-line of the woman on the right, linking to the man’s left wrist and going up along the hand at an angle, forms a <trajectory>⁠DEF that <crosses>⁠DEF the orthogonalities of <opposition> and <conjunction> by underlining <unity> as opposed to just the child.

Correlated painting: Des pauvres au bord de la mer

This painting uses a form of <trajectory> in the diagonal from the woman’s forearm down the child’s right hand, the falling edge of his upper garment, and the man’s leg at an angle. The <trajectory> groups all three figures by <crossing> their vertical <opposition> and the horizontal <conjunction> (underlined by the man’s crossed arms) between the woman and the man. The <trajectory> projects into the parallel vector made by the faces of the man and the child as they both nod the same way, forming a <light> <unity> that contrasts the non-<light> clothing.