Samantha Barreau
College of Mount Saint Vincent
English 110: Writing in Context I
Professor Rogers

Close Analysis; “Girl before the Mirror”

For this essay I chose a painting by Pablo Picasso called “Girl before a Mirror”, according to the research I had done, this painting is in connection to his mistress Marie- Therese Walter. It displays several view, depending on who’s interpreting the painting. Pablo Picasso became one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century and the creator (with someone named Georges Braque) of Cubism. A painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and stage designer, Picasso was considered radical within his work. The poem that is showed in connection to this painting is called “Before
I see a beautiful pregnant woman with certain sexual aspects to herself, who is looking at her reflection in the mirror but not seeing a current view, it’s like she’s seeing into her future reflection. From her reflection in the mirror, she sees her body and it is aged and she seems to not be very happy about it. I really appreciate that you can’t understand this painting at first glance, you really can’t get the meaning of the painting right away; instead its left to us to have a look into a deeper inside the painting, even deeper into ourselves, to get the real meaning and understanding. This is what John Updike said many times during his interesting life: “Everything you can imagine is real.” I think that adds to what makes Pablo Picasso more cryptic than most people realize. It adds to his art, he’s something that you have to think about, just like his art.

John Updike’s poem “Before the Mirror” reflects onto both the past and the present of his author concerning Pablo Picasso’s “Girl before the Mirror”. This poem is a based on a journey where the past and the present are both held up to a mirror in contrast, it’s shone through the woman in Picasso’s painting. Leaving it to the readers, to interpret the growth of time or how it may change and heighten the view of something that one may view as very dear to them. Therefore, both the poem and the painting take part in going and