In 1907, Picasso dropped a bomb on the art world. Les Demoiselles d’Avignon wasn’t just a painting of five women — it was a direct assault on everything art was supposed to be. Gone were the soft curves and elegant proportions of classical beauty. Instead, Picasso gave us jagged lines, fractured bodies, and faces inspired by African masks. It was art stripped down and rebuilt, primal and unapologetic.

At the time, even Picasso’s friends were shocked. Some called it ugly. Others called it insane. But history would call it the beginning of Cubism — and the starting point for a century of modern art.

Why it mattered

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon was controversial because it broke every rule. It rejected perspective. It abandoned realism. It blurred the line between beauty and distortion. Picasso dared to show the world that art didn’t have to imitate life — it could reinvent it.