Which painting by Pablo Picasso, created in 1907, is noted for its radical approach to form and space?

• A. Night Café
• B. Pantheon
• C. Book of Kells
• D. Les Demoiselles d'Avignon

Answer: (D)

Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, painted in 1907, shows a radical shift in how form and space are depicted. Picasso breaks with traditional perspective, presenting the figures as interlocking, flat facets rather than modeling with smooth, three-dimensional volume. The figures are shown from multiple viewpoints at once—some faces in profile, others more frontal—which creates a fractured, sculptural surface and a space that feels unstable rather than receding into illusionistic depth. This approach invites you to actively piece together the scene, rather than passively read it from a single viewpoint.

You can also see the influence of non-Western masks in the stylized faces, which emphasizes shape and pattern over naturalistic detail. All of these choices—fractured planes, multiple viewpoints, and stylized facial forms—mark a decisive move away from established rules of representation and toward a new way of organizing space on the canvas.

The other options aren’t Picasso’s 1907 work with this kind space- and form-breaking treatment: Night Café is by Vincent van Gogh and from a different period, while the others are not Picasso paintings from this era.