Pablo Picasso: The Old Guitarist

In 20th century, an artist named Pablo Picasso changed the course of 'Art' by defining many new art forms such as cubism. During his lifetime Pablo Picasso painted many masterpieces. The one that stands out for me is called "The Old Guitarist." It was painted in late 1903 - early 1904. It depicts an old, blind, haggard man with ragged clothing weekly hunched over his guitar. Now, the question is why do I love a painting that portrays some simple senile old man playing guitar. I love it because of how beautifully it was done. I love the way Picasso used the simplicity of the painting to hid all his complicated emotions.

The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso

The painting gave spark to Picasso's Blue Period in which he painted essentially monochromatic paintings in the shades of blue. Picasso had moved to Paris  in 1901 along with his dear friend Carlos Casagemas. Unfortunately, tragic events stirred in Carlos' life and he committed suicide after a failed love affair. The death of Carlos deeply affected Picasso. It left him depressed and devastated. To add further to his misery, Picasso was very poor too at that time. His poverty made him to identify and relate to the poor and the downtrodden outcasts of the society. These circumstances led to Blue Period in which he used simplistic shades of blue and gray to depict sorrowful figures lost in their tragic contemplation. The use of oil on panel causes a darker theatrical mood as it blends colors together without diminishing brightness. The lifeless old man symbioses misery while the big brown guitar in contrast acts as only hope of survival. The painting also depicts the solitary life of an artist and natural struggles that come with this career choice.

The old woman hidden behind the Guitarist.

Now, jumping to a shocking revelation, this painting didn't only portray an old man with guitar. Picasso did a good job to hide and blend many Easter-eggs and mysteries in it. X-rays examinations by curators revealed three figures peering behind the old guitarist's body. The three figures are an old woman seated in the center of the composition with head bent forward, a young mother with a small child kneeling by her side, and an animal on the right side of the canvas. Experts also determined that at least two different paintings are found beneath The Old Guitarist. Overall, the melancholic shades of blue and oil perfectly blended with the hidden mystic figures behind the Guitarist shows the complexity hidden beneath the simplicity of the painting. All these elements successfully make "The Old Guitarist" one of the perfect artistic masterpieces ever created.