Why did Picasso shift from the blue/rose periods to fragmented forms?

[Anthony_T]

I’m trying to understand the shift in Picasso’s work around 1907, when the figures became so fragmented and the space so compressed. I’ve always appreciated his Blue and Rose periods, but this new direction feels like it’s breaking something fundamental about painting, and I can’t decide if it’s a logical progression or a complete rejection.

[Elizabeth_R]

i am not an art historian but i painted for years and the 1907 shift hit me personally. the space gets crowded and the figures fracture and it makes you step back and tilt your head. it felt like the painting was testing how many viewpoints could be in one frame. i tried to replicate that feeling in a quick sketch and it came out flat at first then it opened up when i forced myself to see from three angles at once.

[Jacob.T]

to me the move feels like analytic Cubism not a rejection of painting but a question about what a picture knows about space and time.

[OliviaDC]

but maybe the bigger question is whether the shift comes from the painting or from what the viewer expects in a painting?

[Addison89]

i tried to sketch a panel after a weekend study and the proportions refused to stay the same. the line that used to guide the eye vanished and the color feel shifted toward neutral tones and that was unsettling.