Picasso - The Wait (Margot)

The work is inspired by the Parisian night that Picasso discovered at the turn of the 20th century, it represents the portrait of a drug addict or a prostitute painted in rapid and very colorful strokes with a pictorial treatment that is partly pointillist or divisionist.

The thick, energetic brushstrokes - an influence of Van Gogh - and the black outline of the figure - also a characteristic of some of Van Gogh's works and of the French art movement Les Nabis - are worth noting. The chromaticism shows how captivated Picasso was by the play of light and how much fun he had using color. Picasso's ability to transcend the moment in which the work was painted and to make us feel the presence of this woman with glassy eyes and a white face staring at us generates emotion.

The Waiting (Margot), 1901

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