Pablo Picasso
Spanish, active France, 1881–1973
The Old Guitarist
INV-2806
Pablo Picasso
Spanish, active France, 1881–1973late 1903–early 1904
The Old Guitarist
Pablo Picasso Spanish, active France, 1881–1973 →Blue periodoil on panelpainting
Date
late 1903–early 1904
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
122.9 × 82.6 cm (48 3/8 × 32 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection
Pablo Picasso made The Old Guitarist while working in Barcelona. In the paintings of his Blue Period (1901-04), the artist restricted himself to a cold, monochromatic blue palette, flattened forms, and emotional, psychological themes of human misery and alienation related to the work of such artists as Edvard Munch and Paul Gauguin. The elongated, angular figure of the blind musician also relates to Picasso's interest in Spanish art and, in particular, the great 16th-century artist El Greco. The image reflects the twenty-two-year-old Picasso's personal struggle and sympathy for the plight of the downtrodden; he knew what it was like to be poor, having been nearly penniless during all of 1902.
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