1937 La femme qui pleure 6 Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Period of creation: 1931-1942

The drawing presents a figure dominated by intense emotional distress. Here we observe a womans face, rendered in a style characterized by angularity and fragmentation. The features are not realistically depicted; instead, they are broken down into planes and reassembled in a manner that emphasizes anguish. Her mouth is open in what appears to be a silent scream or sob, the teeth visible within the distorted form. Large, tear-filled eyes convey profound sorrow, their shape further exaggerated by the surrounding lines.
The artist employed a limited tonal range, primarily relying on variations of gray and black achieved through hatching and cross-hatching. This restricted palette contributes to the overall sense of bleakness and despair. The hair is depicted as a chaotic mass of lines, adding to the feeling of disarray and emotional upheaval.
The composition is tightly cropped, focusing almost exclusively on the womans face and upper torso. This close proximity intensifies the viewer’s experience of her suffering, creating an unsettling intimacy. There is a sense of confinement; the figure seems trapped within the frame, mirroring perhaps a feeling of being overwhelmed by circumstance.
Subtly, there are hints of underlying structure beneath the apparent chaos. The lines, while seemingly random, often converge and intersect, suggesting a deliberate construction despite the overall impression of fragmentation. This could be interpreted as an attempt to find order or meaning within profound suffering. The work seems to explore themes of grief, trauma, and perhaps even the psychological impact of societal upheaval – though these are not explicitly stated but rather evoked through the figure’s expression and the artists stylistic choices.