Picasso’s Rose Period was followed by an even more radical change in style. From 1907 to 1909, Picasso’s art was influenced by his interest in so-called “primitive” art, especially African masks. This period therefore became known as the African period. Characterized by angular, simplified forms, his paintings were rendered in a muted palette of reds and browns.

Around this time, the French empire was expanding into Africa and African artifacts were returning to museums in Paris, exposing Picasso to a truly unique art form. He explored emotional and psychological areas not seen in Western art, which was considered by the avant-garde as subservient to the world of appearances. For them, the faculty of imagination, emotion, and mystical experience were more important than mere sight. In African art, which possessed remarkable expressive power, they saw a response to these higher faculties.

Picasso’s most notable achievement of this period, the painting The Ladies of Avignon, It arrived in early 1907 and is arguably the most influential painting of the 20th century. Following this work, Picasso began to paint in a style influenced by the two figures on the right side of the painting, the same figures inspired by African masks, with their striped patterns and oval shapes.

In 1907, the painting was considered extremely daring. The influence of African art caused distortions and visual inconsistencies. For example, in the bottom right of the image, the figure’s head is turned in an anatomically impossible way. Surprisingly, even Picasso’s fellow painters, bulwarks of the avant-garde, reacted negatively to The Ladies of Avignon. It is alleged that Henri Matisse told Picasso that he was trying to ridicule the modern movement.