Details
The image
Dark forms pressed against a lighter ground, a profile broken into planes and reassembled, the drawing done in heavy black with no shading at all. The composition is crowded and angular and the eye has to move between several centres before it settles.
Where it comes from
The profile here belongs to Pablo Picasso’s graphic work and it carries the argument of cubism: the picture taken apart and put back together from several viewpoints at once. That black-and-white phase produced a language printing could carry without loss, hard lines, flat planes, no tonal subtlety, which is why designers borrowed it immediately and why it became the visual signature of an entire period of European art.
On the wall
It holds a wall with force, so it suits a study, a hallway or a living room with strong furniture. Because the composition is dense and the contrast is high, it needs a plain surface around it and even light. In a group it should be the piece that sets the volume.
In company
Hung as a pair with something from the Geometric collection, it gains rather than loses.Avoid hanging it beside delicate drawing, the contrast would flatten the neighbour.
