A 1999 screenprint by Patrick Caulfield that reinterprets Picasso's iconic composition through a clean, graphic, and flattened aesthetic.

Patrick Caulfield, a central figure in British Pop Art, produced this screenprint in 1999. The work functions as a witty, formal response to Pablo Picasso’s 1907 masterpiece, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. While Picasso’s original work shattered traditional perspective through fractured, angular forms, Caulfield adopts a different approach. He flattens the composition into distinct, hard-edged planes of colour, removing the aggressive distortion of the original while retaining the iconic arrangement of the figures. Caulfield is known for his precise, clean lines and his interest in the mechanics of representation. In this print, he strips away the painterly texture of the 1907 work, replacing it with a graphic clarity that reflects his background in commercial design. By presenting the figures from behind, he subverts the traditional gaze associated with the nude. The palette is reduced to bold, flat areas of blue, pink, and deep red, which serve to emphasise the silhouette of each figure against the background. The work demonstrates his ability to engage with art history through a contemporary lens, using the language of screenprinting to re-examine established icons. The result is a composition that feels both familiar and detached, inviting the viewer to consider the act of looking and the nature of artistic appropriation. The print maintains a balance between the recognisable subject matter and the artist's signature style of simplified, graphic reduction.