Picasso's Demoiselles d'Avignon (19.2) did more than open up new approaches to from and space in painting. It had further meanings both for the artist and for his friends in paris,who were the only people to see it for the artist and for his friends in paris,who were the only people to see it for many years. Various influences had been absorbed into the painting during its long period of gestation-diverse influences such as Iberian sculpture,late cezanne figure painting and even El Greco,whose Vision of St John the Divine (Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York) provided a source,in reverse,for the three left-hand demoiselles. But African art was the final and determining catalyst. It impelled Picasso on a breakneck course when he 'discovered' it after he had begun the painting. african sculpture's overwhelming appeal was twofold. It held out a key towards solving Picasso's dual problem: how to radicalize structure and form without losing important issues of content and allusions to real-life concerns.