“Girl Before a Mirror” is unmistakable as a Picasso. Line and style gives it all away. The form of the painting and its color edges are hard and well-defined by the use of outlining. Curved and straight lines are juxtaposed against one another. This arrangement of lines creates an effect that is crisp and strong, catching the viewer's attention and holding it there as the eye follows one bold line to another.
Picasso's use of the color palette makes this work of art stunning. He uses both lights and darks broadly, with the majority of his focus on strong contrast, posing the darkest darks against the lightest lights to create a striking effect. Opposing warm and cool colors alike in the girl and her reflection make this piece very thought-provoking. Which two sides of this girl is he depicting? The girl on the inside and the girl on the outside? Her day-self and her night-self? Regardless, there is contrast present, which lets us know that the girl herself possessed a contrasting personality.
When speaking of Picasso's use of brush stroke in “Girl Before a Mirror,” one must rather speak of the lack thereof. The brush stroke is unobtrusive and not very noticeable. The vibrant areas, where you would normally notice brush stroke, are mostly flat, without texture.
At one point in his career, Picasso became absorbed in the idea of finding a new way to represent figures in their interior space. Instead of representing figures as stand-alone subjects, he mastered the art of fracturing their shapes and interweaving them with jagged planes in the space surrounding them. While he created a rather patterned backdrop for “Girl Before a Mirror,” he combined the space between the girl and the mirror itself, almost meshing the two together as one form.
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