Lying naked woman 1955

Here we see Picasso’s ‘Lying Naked Woman’, realized with oil on canvas. But look closer, and you'll notice that the figure is broken into distinct planes of wallpaper, or fabric, with a linear overlay in black. Picasso’s use of collage here prompts us to consider how he has assembled an image, like a craftsperson working with a collection of samples. The patterned fragments bring the painting into the sphere of the domestic, of interior design. Each pattern hints at a different source, a different set of cultural references, a different mode of production, brought together here in this highly artificial construct. What are we to make of Picasso's "lying woman", assembled with the material of capitalist consumption? Perhaps he is hinting at the ways that desire is assembled from commodities – a powerful commentary on the ways that our social selves are constructed, layer upon layer. Through his experimental processes, Picasso blurs the lines between painting, craft, and social critique.