Picasso created the original oil painting Girl before a Mirror in March 1932. Like many of Picasso’s art works it is as paradox as it is ironic: Something which the artist reveled in. Like many of his most famed works Picasso investigate the contradictions of femininity and masculinity. Altogether the shape of the Girl before The Mirror takes on a phallic form: This painting being considered by many as ‘erotic’. The reflection of the girl has a male face and a female body. The face of the girl also depicts a contradiction. On one side she seems cold and assertive; on the other (the side furthest away from the viewer) she seems sad.

The model for the Girl before a Mirror was his mistress Marie-Thérèse: One of a long series Picasso produced during the nineteen thirties. The bold geometric shapes and vibrant colors literally inundate the viewer with visual information: The background also brings visual intensity to this oil painting: Indeed this is one of the artist’s most poignant works created in the cubist style which Picasso was developing during this period. Girl before A Mirror is an absolute must for lovers of the cubist style: An icon of its development as well as an eye-catching if not stunning work of art.