The class went on a tour of the cubism exhibit at the MoMA. We looked at several different paintings by Pablo Picasso. One that stuck with me was "Girl with a Mandolin." It's an oil painting made by Picasso in the early 1900s in Paris.

The girl can be seen clearly. Her face and her body has been taken over by three-dimensional shapes. Her eyes look empty, and she has no nose or mouth. If you stare at her face for a long while, you forget that it's a human face. It begins to look like a block of wood. The transformation is almost frightening. The contouring and lighter use of color separates her from the background. Her body, which is composed of shapes, looks rigid. I can't sense any movement. The only curves in the painting are those that outline the mandolin, which she's holding firmly close to her. Her right hand is on the strings.

This painting which features no bright colors and gives off a rather hazy feeling was my favorite at the exhibit. The outline of the girl and the well-defined shapes were intricate. It's something that I would like to revist at the MoMA.