In 1907, the intimidating women in Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon—also known as The Brothel—were a jarring contrast to all prior Western traditions of depicting the female nude. This program offers an in-depth analysis of an iconoclastic painting born from the rivalry between Picasso and Matisse for leadership of the avant-garde. The painting’s intentional lack of narrative, rejection of three-dimensionality, and distorted, sharp-edged forms are analyzed, as are the influences of Ingres, Cezanne, El Greco, African tribal masks, a stolen Iberian stone sculpture, and one very significant postcard. A BBCW Production. (50 minutes)