Figures at the Seaside

In the summer of 1931, Picasso created a series of odd erotic beach images, including The Kiss, at his French Riviera vacation resort of Juan-les-Pins. The grotesque character of the depicted shapes, said to be inspired by the 50-year-old painter's affair with 19-year-old model Marie-Therese Walter, reduces this moment of intimate contact to a level of crudity, arguably more emblematic of his worsening relationship with his wife, Olga.

The two figures' praying mantis-like heads were popular with Surrealists because the twisted thought of the female bug consuming her mate after intercourse provided another visual metaphor of the life and death dilemma. Picasso's obscene vagina dentatta teeth imagery, as well as penile tongues, are included in these heads.

Year: 1931