Meet the Artwork: Head of a Woman

Have you ever heard the name Pablo Picasso before? When most people think of Picasso, they picture faces with the eyes, nose and mouth in unusual places. But why would an artist make a face that didn't look like a regular face?

Meet Head of a Woman. Pablo Picasso made this artwork in 1958. If you look carefully, you'll see that the woman in the artwork has two eyes on this side of her head...


...and two more eyes on the other side of her head. And they're all looking from different directions!



Picasso wanted to make an artwork that would show a woman's head from more than one direction at once. Think about this: if you are looking at someone's head, you can only see the front, or the side, or the back, but not all three at the same time.

Picasso used his imagination to show several views of the same head at a time. Imagine if you could see in all of those directions at once!

Questions about this artwork? Add a comment below!

Project: Blueberry Betograve

Pablo Picasso made the sculpture Head of a Woman using a process called Betograve (BET-oh-grave). The sculpture is made of small stones and cement, sort of like a sidewalk.


To create this kind of texture, the artist (1) creates an empty form in the shape they want, then (2) fills the form with small stones, and (3) pours cement over the stones. When the cement is hard, they can (4) take it out of the form and sand away parts of the cement to reveal the stones inside.



You can try out a similar process at home using materials that are much tastier than cement and gravel.

1. Find a small baking pan or casserole dish. You could even use a large bowl if you want.

2. Using the directions on the package, prepare your favorite flavor of gelatin and let it set up in the fridge until completely firm.

3. Pour blueberries over the top of the gelatin. They should totally cover the surface with no spaces between them. Fresh berries are best, but you can use frozen if they're not all stuck together.

4. Spread a layer of whipped cream over the top of the blueberries. It should be thick enough that you can't see the berries at all.

5. Using a rubber spatula, scrape away the whipped cream in certain places to make a design by revealing the tops of the berries below.

If you're feeling creative at dinnertime, you can also try this with mashed potatoes and peas.

Who knew art could be so delicious!


Did you try this project at home? Share your photos by sending them to schooltours@nashersculpturecenter.org.