After conducting further research, I feel that Pablo Picasso’s painting titled “Mother and Child” represents the belief that higher social standing creates detachment between people as well as society as a whole. Upon first viewing this painting, I was struck by how distant the mother appeared to be from her baby. Typically, mothers are depicted comforting and cradling their children versus the mother in this work, who appears stiff and disconnected from her own flesh and blood. Furthermore, numerous sources suggest that the mother in this painting is Picasso’s first wife, Olga. As a result, this would support even more the theory that the mother and child disconnected. Olga was a famous ballerina who thrived in being a member of a higher class society. On the contrary, Picasso preferred a much simpler lifestyle. He detested his newfound fame as an artist and preferred living life as one in poverty. Picasso possessed highly different values than his spouse. These differences eventually resulted in divorce for the couple. Since Olga favored living life among the wealthy while Picasso valued a more simplistic way of life, the two of course grew distant. This is the separation that is represented in this painting. Furthermore, the distance between the mother and child signifies the differences between the rich and poor. Society will forever be stratified, and Picasso highlights how difficult it is to branch the gap between low and high classes of society. Although a mere mother and child are represented in Pablo Picasso’s painting, they possess much greater significance than one may believe.
