Les Amants

Of all the works to come out of this artist-model collaboration, Les amants is the most expressive of romantic love and the timeless ritual of courtship. A male figure holds in his hands a glittering jewel that he presents, on bended knee, to a reclining female nude. Picasso's complete absorption in his subject matter is critical to the picture's balance of eros and art. Les amants must have had particular resonance for Picasso whose art so mirrored his own experiences that the depiction of the adoring male figure is likely a self-portrait.

Endowed with generous curves, her arm draped over her head, Picasso's shapely nude is charged with erotic overtones. Stylistically, her bulbous head, and reclining position is a variant of the pose Picasso first showcased in Nu au fauteuil noir painted a few months earlier. One of the most striking elements of Les amants is its undulating and serpentine line, which the artist to have associated with romantic and sexual fulfillment.

Furthermore, by defining the two figures with black outlines, Picasso allowed color to take on its own identity in the composition--further evidence of his desire to challenge the limits of figure and abstraction. Each color from his pastel palette boldly occupies an area of the composition in a series of abstract shapes, resulting in a harmonious balance of color and form.