Ontelly

Private Life of a Masterpiece - Series 3 - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

Logo for Private Life of a Masterpiece - Series 3 - Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

'My Brothel' is the title that Picasso gave to his masterwork Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, the painting of five towering prostitutes that began the art of the twentieth century. It was a work that shocked even his friends when they first saw it, with one saying that Picasso would be found hanged behind it one day. The programme relates how the painting grew out of a fierce rivalry between Matisse and Picasso and just why it was and remains so revolutionary.