NAVIGATIONALL ARTISTS
The
Old Guitarist. Pablo Ruiz Picasso, 1903.
This Blue Period painting was created after the suicide of Picasso's friend Carlos Casagemas along with pieces such as "The Tragedy". The Blue Period stretched from 1901 to 1904 and was defined by its melancholy subject matter and hues. The painting depicts a blind beggar in torn and tattered clothes sitting in a somewhat distorted manner around his guitar. The distortion of his features and elongated limbs is reminiscent of the work of el greco. The figure is known to be modeled after a blind artist whom Picasso knew in Madrid.
The beggar and blind guitarist are not unlike Picasso as a modern artist. Neither Picasso nor his subject are accepted by those around him and yet they are dependent upon them. A blind man playing the guitar must search his soul for inspiration also much like a modern artist as he attempts to break the shackles of his classic schooling with nothing to guide him. Though this theme of alienation seems prevalent in most Blue Period pieces, it is undeniable that Picasso is also making something of a critique on society with his somber depiction of the poor.
Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period refers to the years 1901 to 1904 where Picasso’s art was dominated by sadness, melancholy, and of course the color blue. The subjects of his paintings are mainly gaunt street people, prostitutes and beggars. It was a very rough time in Picasso’s young life, lending powerful emotion to his work. It is also a very important time in art history as Picasso was making a transition between the classic art of his schooling and the art form he would soon create, cubism and abstract art.
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My mother said to me, "If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope." Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso. - Pablo Ruiz Picasso