Do n’t be deceived by this seemingly simple picture of a man and his instrument . Pablo Picasso’sThe Old Guitaristhas secrets in its past and in its paint .
The Old Guitaristis the most iconic work of Picasso’s Blue Period.
This chapter in the germinal panther ’s career — whichlastedfrom 1901–1904 — began withCasagemas in His Coffin , a employment draw a dearly departed friend in his concluding repose . ( The pair was close , and Casagemas ’s end in 1901contributedto Picasso ’s impression . ) From there came many more grave portraits of despair , desperation , and desolation that appear on museum walls all over the world . But none has arrive near to surpassing the popularity ofThe Old Guitarist .
Picasso could relate to his penniless guitar player.
At 22 , Picasso projected his sadness on many painting from his Blue Period through monochromatic , flat theatrical performance — includingThe Old Guitarist , which he began in recent 1903 and finished in 1904.According tothe Art Institute of Chicago , which owns the painting , “ The look-alike reflects … Picasso ’s personal conflict and understanding for the predicament of the downtrodden ; he knew what it was like to be poor , having been nearly penniless during all of 1902 . ” The only element ofThe Old Guitaristthat is not devotedly blue is the man ’s guitar . Through his art , the player finds solace . The luminosity of the guitar could be see to speak to how Picasso viewed his own art as a bright spot even in his darkest times .
The guitarist appears to be blind.
marginalise and disadvantaged people were often the subject firearm in the Blue Period . Picasso was especially scheme by blindness , and apparently blind figures can be find out in several of his works . The etchingThe Frugal Repast(1904 ) depicts a blind man and a sighted woman sharing a sparse repast . The artist tackled a similar theme — minus the companion — withThe Blind Man ’s Mealin 1903 . That same twelvemonth , he make the portraitCelestina , which shows a cleaning woman with one milky unseeing optic . And then there ’s the subject ofThe Old Guitarist : Observe his closed eyes , obviate from the world and the instrument he plays . It’stheorizedthat a key influence of the painting was Symbolist literature , which often employed blind characters to intimate a vision beyond this world .
The Old Guitarist’scomposition is a nod to El Greco.
Picasso was fond of El Greco because he was overlooked by scholars in favor of other Renaissance and Mannerist painter of the meter . The guitarist ’s top dog , which crooked at a jarring angle , and his legs , which are curl in , make him seem cramped within the build . nontextual matter historianssuggestPicasso chose this angular pose accented by elongated limbs as a nod to the famous 16th - C artist .
The Old Guitaristis bigger than you’d expect.
Because the guitar thespian is contorted and cramped within the frame , you might thinkthat the picture was created on a modest canvas tent , but it in reality assess in at 48.375 - by-32.5 inches .
The Art Institute of Chicago made history with the painting.
When the Art Institute of Chicago acquiredThe Old Guitaristin 1926 , it was a pivotal moment for the artist : The work became his first house painting to be take on by an American museum , and according to the Art Institute of Chicago , it was also the first Picasso painting that any museum in the worldly concern had acquired for its lasting collection .
This piece may have inspired poetry …
In 1937 , American Modernist Wallace Stevens published the lengthy verse form “ The Man With The Blue Guitar . ” Despite a seemingly obvious data link between the painting and the poem , Stevens denied any connection to Picasso ’s work , claiming , “ I had no particular painting of Picasso ’s in mind and even though it might help to sell the Christian Bible to have one of his paintings on the cover version , I do n’t recall we ought to reproduce anything of Picasso ’s . ”
… and it definitely inspired musicians.
In a2016 conversationwithRolling Stone , Paul McCartney revealed that he was with his then - wife , Linda , in a clinic after the birth of their girl . “ I ’m sitting around eating chip with my guitar in the clinic , goofing around with it . And there was a icon on the wall that I ’d been looking at for day — Picasso , The Old Guitarist …. and a lightheaded medulla oblongata went off in my head : ‘ What chord is that ? ’ It looked like it was two string . ‘ You have it away what would be cool ? To compose a song with only two finger . ’ ” He pen a air based on the idea in 1969 , but he did n’t use it . ( Kayne West would eventually use it in his vocal “ All Day ” : “ I was secern Kanye this story . I whistled it for him . His engineer was enter it , and it survive into the syndicate of factor , ” McCartney said . ) The Counting Crows alsoreferencethe painting in their hit “ Mr. Jones ” : “ Yeah , well , you know gray is my favorite color / I felt so symbolic yesterday / If I screw Picasso / I ’d buy myself a grey guitar and play . ”
There’s a woman hiding on the canvas.
If you look close at the space above the guitar player ’s ear , through the blue - grey paint , you might make out a forehead and eyes . This apparitional woman invited further study , so in the 1990s , the Art Institute of Chicagostudied itin a conservation lab using infrared scans andX - raysto see what Picasso had paint over . What was get wind was an abandon portrait of a naked untested adult female , sit down and breast feeding a child from her right breast , as well as a calf and cow . It ’s not the only Picasso painting that’shiding something , either .
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A version of this story ran in 2015 ; it has been update for 2024 .
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