Le Rêve, The Dream in English, is a 1932 oil painting by Pablo Picasso. He started exploring different painting techniques one by one as if after the age of 30s. Following his inspiration and pursuing freedom, he leaps from classics to realism

Picasso’s Le Rêve

Le Rêve, The Dream in English, is a 1932 oil painting by Pablo Picasso. He started exploring different painting techniques one by one as if after the age of 30s. Following his inspiration and in pursuit of freedom, he leaps from classic to realism, from romanticism to expressionism, leaving consistency and continuity on the side, and so does his life. Without being limited to secular prejudice he fell in love with the beautiful 22 year old mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter, who was less than half his age.

Affection can inject new inspiration into Picasso’s paintings, in which he uses oversimplified outlines and contrasting colors to depict his lover, who exudes an allure while still looking simple. It is a challenge to portray an attractive young woman using only a few sketches and a few colors. Picasso manages to do this by leading the viewer to a simple portrait based image. In this picture, the young woman pops her head leaving her blonde hair drooping vertically downwards.

Picasso’s Le Rêve Meaning

Obviously, she was in a deep sleep and had a beautiful dream, her sexy red lips and closed eyes aroused the curiosity of viewers about her dream. Most notably, his head was split into two equal parts from the middle, some consider this a symbolic phallus inserted into his head, this erotic detail fully reflects Picasso’s affection for his young lover. Looking down, the skirt falls down under Walter’s casual breasts, leaving one completely naked breast which adds to the sex of this painting.

Walter’s arms lazily overlapped his thighs the length of his body. It is interesting that Picasso depicts his arms in an exaggerated way. In contrast to the young woman’s modest hue, Picasso used a striking red to depict the sofa on which the young woman sits according to her red lips. All of these are combined together to form a beautiful and sexy young woman with success.