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06 Classical Painter

At the turn of the 1920s, the artistic climate was what art historians describe as the ‘Return to Order’, understood as a revival of figuration and classical subjects. After the traumas of the First World War, art was expected to serve as a point of reference for reconstruction. In Picasso’s case, this period—described as ‘neoclassical’ or even ‘Ingresque’—developed alongside a late Cubist style that he pursued in parallel.
The 1920s also marked a transformation in the artist’s social status. In his private life, he married Olga Khokhlova in 1918, a professional dancer born in the Russian Empire. In 1921, the couple welcomed their son Paul. Picasso portrayed his new family in numerous works, both paintings and drawings. The delicacy that emanates from works of this period is heightened by a clear line that defines figures against blank backgrounds, without any shading or sense of depth.