It goes without saying that there is nothing more underrated here than the University’s Museum of Art. Among the masterpieces on view are Pablo Picasso’s Two Girls Reading (Deux Enfants Lisant) from 1934. The piece is emblematic of Picasso – the sharp lines, the geometric shapes, the rendering of the two females embracing one another. The combination of colors is enthralling – the smaller child’s face partly lavender, partly white. The larger female who is embracing the smaller is entirely sage green, her hand clutching the other figure’s shoulder. The two females are looking down, solemn in both their stares and the curvature of their eyes. Pasted behind them is mustard background. On the table with which they are perched is a book sprawled open.
The meaning behind this work is dual, undoubtedly. There is the loving embrace between the two female figures, but there is also the educational and literature element to the work – the fact that although the two figures are embracing, they are embracing through the shared love for reading.
The work strikes me in its classical Picasso movements – the sweeping strokes that create the figures in a combination of geometric shapes, the pointed noses, the curvature of the eyes, the geometric fingers that feel entirely non-human. The color is  Picasso, too.  The brusque orange and mustard yellow, contrasting the sage green and melodic lavender. The contrasting of the colors, the sharp black lines pointed – creating figures in themselves. But for me, more than anything, this work resonates the feeling I, as an English major, love all too much. I could spend hours, days even, snuggled up with a book – getting lost in its nuances, the plot and the characters becoming so familiar that I feel as though they are my kin. This painting, moreover, could be appreciated and have a familiarity with most, if not all, U of M students. We all, just in the inherent nature of being a student, spend hours with our books – losing ourselves in our studies, in the words written on the page.
So, I urge all students to take a stroll through UMMA. To find themselves face-to-face with the world’s greatest master, Picasso. Lose yourself in his colors – his lines. But moreover, lose yourself in the meaning behind the work, the ability it could have to strik you in a more personal, a more unforgettable, way.
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