The artwork entitled “The Girl with a Goat (La jeune fille a la chevre)” by Pablo Picasso was created in 1906. The medium used for this piece is oil on canvas, and it is considered part of the Expressionism movement. The dimensions of the artwork are 53 3/4 x 40 1/8 inches (approximately 139 x 102 centimeters). As a nude painting, it is a genre that Picasso explored throughout his prolific career. This particular piece is located at the Barnes Foundation in Merion, Pennsylvania.
In the artwork, we observe a composition featuring a central female figure who stands nude, accompanied by a goat on her left side and a child on her right. The figures are rendered with soft, rounded forms that imbibe the painting with a sense of tenderness and naturalness. The female’s pose, with one hand lifting her hair and the other resting at her side, contributes to the overall feeling of ease and classical grace. The goat is depicted with a white coat and an alert expression as it looks upward, while the child is portrayed equally nude, balancing a vase atop its head. The colors are muted, with earthy tones dominating the palette, creating a harmonious and warm atmosphere. The simplicity of the composition and the reserved palette are characteristic of Picasso’s work during this period, just before his evolution into Cubism.
Picasso’s artwork demonstrates his ability to convey human and animal forms with a sense of emotion and expression, aligned with the broad goals of Expressionism to invoke subjective perspectives and emotional responses. Despite the distinctive style later on in his career, this work exhibits his exploration of traditional subjects with a hint of experimentation that would come to define his artistic trajectory.
