Introduction
artwork
To many people, a piece of artwork is just a combination of paint, colors, lines, and pictures drawn on a blank canvas. In other times, the story behind the artwork is easily evident through the dramatic poses of the subjects and the art background’s nature. Some paintings are clearer to the audience than others. Some paintings are more likely to grab the audience’s attention than others. The famous painting, the old guitarist by Pablo Picasso, is an example of a painting that does not scream but has a theme that is open to different interpretations depending on the audience. The old guitarist was created in 1904 in Barcelona, Spain. It is an oil painting on a canvas, measuring approximately 122.9cm by 82.6cm. The piece of art is on display in the art institute of Chicago and forms part of the Helen birch bartlett memorial collection. Picasso is an artist who largely dominated the art industry in the first half of the twentieth century. Along with other artists such as Georges Braque, he is acknowledged as the inventor of cubism, although he used many styles in his creation. Picasso’s poor living standards and the suicide of a close friend deeply influenced Picasso’s art style. Picasso had a blue period between 1901-1904 in which he drew art following a monochromatic palette, flattened form, tragic and sorrowful theme. The old guitarist was drawn after the tragic death of a dear friend through suicide. At the time, Picasso was sympathetic to the fate of the downtrodden and painted many canvases to demonstrate the problems of the poor, ill, and those excluded from the community. Picasso had experienced a hard life, seeing that the artist had been poor during the year 1902. The old guitarist was painted in Madrid. In this painting, Picasso copied the works of El Grego in making the distorted style of the old guitarist.
Picasso was born on October 25, 1881, in Malaga, Spain. His old man was an art teacher and a painter. Despite his classic training, Picasso made a huge impact throughout his career. He started his painting in Spain, while his ideas and techniques were acquired from Barcelona. Picasso spent much time in Paris, learning and doing more artwork. Picasso invented cubism, which is a philosophy and a style of painting. Other painters have recognized cubism as a towering intellectual and artistic achievement that has much impact on European art. Before inventing Cubism, Picasso was developing his career in Barcelona; the time period referred to as the blue period. The old guitarist is also known as the blind guitarist and was created during Picassos blue period.
Picasso was born in Spain but went to France to pursue his career. He started painting at the age of 8 years and lived to paint throughout his life. He died at the age of 91. Picasso was incredible in his lifetime. He created approximately 50,000 artworks. That is more than 1800 paintings, more than 4000 sculptures, and ceramics. 12000 drawings and many more publications. He also created tapestries and rugs. He changed his style periodically throughout his career. Today Picasso is recognized as one of the most influential and biggest artists of the 20th century.
Iconographic analysis
The old guitarist was an oil painting on canvas, resembling many artworks during that period. The painting was that of an older man whose skin and bones were showing. He appears to be weak and feeble and he seems to latch onto his guitar as if looking for redemption from his poor state of affairs. The figure of the old man seems to be huddling and curling around his guitar. The shadows on his face make him look as if he is starved. The guitar forms the only point of warmth in the painting. Picasso wanted to make the guitar the only source of hope in the picture. The man’s pitiful state is brought out by his pale blue skin, his weak and hungry body, and his torn clothing. His blindness further depicts his poor state of affairs. The sadness reflects the general atmosphere of the painting on the face of the old man. Picasso wanted to bring out the state that lower-class individuals lived in at the time. This guitarist seems to be holding on to his form of art during troubling times. According to analysts, Picasso saw himself as the old guitarist holding onto his paintings during the trying times.
Picasso’s inspiration came from El Greco. There is a similarity in the way of drawing elongated limbs and angular bodies and faces. Picasso’s inspiration from El Grego in the way he draws the body of the old guitarist. The eyes of the guitarist are closed, implying that he was blind. The symbolist movement, which was occurring roughly at the same time, used this symbolism. The movement used the symbol of a blind person with heightened inner divine sight. The old guitarist was done in a period during the blue period when men were depicted as blind or psychotic. They took the slender’s physique, angular, elongated like El Grego, who was a hero to Picasso. The blue period represents the blind person as a person in touch with his spirituality rather than seeing him as hopeless.
In the painting, the blind old man’s guitar is the only element containing color variation. The painting has a monochromatic color scheme. The artist used the brown color to represent the only tool that the old man could utilize to save himself from the poor state of affairs. Picasso uses the color brown on the guitar instead of blue to represent the only hope of survival for the old man. Picasso draws the man as though he is leaning on the guitar, hoping that music would offer some comfort during the terrible time. The artwork appeals to the masses because it brings out the predicament faced by lower-class society. Picasso assembled the elements carefully in order to bring out the expected reaction from his audience. The atmosphere surrounding this painting is designed to haunt its audience in a way to make them question the difference in social classes and why people in the low class continued to suffer in poverty. Analysts point out that Picasso got the inspiration for his drawing from the famous painting hope 3 by English artist George Frederic Wallace.
According to analysts, Picasso used the old man as the subject to bring out the life of isolation that many artists live in. music and art are tools used to bring society together, but they are also the very tools that lead to isolation from the rest of the world. Despite the isolation from the rest of the world, the guitarist holds on to his guitar and depends on survival. Therefore, in addition to depicting Picasso’s criticism of the society, the painting also represented the nature of human existence.
Since the old guitarist was created during Picasso’s blue period, it depicted a lot of sorrow and grief. The atmosphere surrounding the artwork is brought out by choice of colors that he chooses. Picasso uses blue with a combination of dark colors. The fact that the piece was created after Picasso lost a close friend represents Picasso’s low living standards. The artwork is one dimension and flat.
The painting is known as the old guitarist. The title represents the contents of the painting in that it is that of an old man holding on to his guitar.
Formal analysis
Picasso used the process of oil painting to complete the masterpiece. A close examination of the painting through modern infrared technology shows that there more figures in the piece other than the main figure of the old guitarist. There are 3 more figures that of an old woman, a young woman and an animal. These figures are visible to the naked eye if you look hard enough. Analysts believe that the artist meant for the figures to be present, while others believe that due to his poor state, he could not afford a canvas; therefore, he drew the painting on a wooden table in his home that already had the figures.
The painting is made up of light and dark blues to create a melancholic atmosphere. Picasso uses the dark blues to create shadows on the man’s face and curve sharp contours on the man’s face, neck, and hands. The source of light in the picture emanates from above and also near the man’s face. Light blues and white represent the light. The only thing that does not have the blue color is the guitar, which is brown in color. The brown color makes the guitar stand out compared to the rest of the painting, as if it is the only thing keeping the old guitarist alive. In addition, there is a difference in how Picasso paints the guitar compared to the rest of the drawing. The guitar is flat and cartoonish, and the shading is at a minimum. This is a way of bringing attention to the guitarist rather than the guitar.
Picasso uses a careful transition from light to dark in the piece. He uses a lot of white and light blue on the left side and near the guitarist’s head, then transitions to darker tones towards the right side of the drawing. The color is darkest toward the furthest right. Picasso uses his colorings to depict that the guitarist is alive inside despite the condition of his body and the poor state of affairs.
Picasso uses color to represent the old man’s despair, and he also uses lines and angularity to depict this as well. The body of the old man is curved and sickly feeble, his bones are sticking out on his skin, and these clothes are ruined. His head is bent down and parallel with his crossed leg to bring out that the man is tired. There are visible lines separating the old man from the background; however, the colors and shading produce a smooth transition. There is also a smooth transition of the colors from white to light blue to dark blue. The choice is to use oil to favor the shading and coloring since it offers good material to blend. Picasso’s brushstrokes appear very long and consistent. The blotches in the background create a shadowy effect. The blurry background, coupled with the flat guitar, suggests that his main focus is the guitarist.
Picasso’s choice of long brushstrokes suggests movement, meaning that the man is playing the guitar. However, the use of the blue palette creates a sense of sadness. The movement is slow and sad. The tattered clothes suggest that the man is poor, and his thin body suggests that he may be starved and does not feed well.
The painting appears naturalistic, which works to improve the sense of the misery of the man in the painting. The way his body features are drawn resemble those of an actual person. Picasso draws the man with his eyes closed, suggesting that the man is blind. This suggests that the man in a position well out of his limits.
The man in the painting has a straight forward point of view meant to meet the audience. The old man in the picture is looking down to bring out the shame of the man. Picasso seems to have drawn the painting close to the man, which shows that he sympathized with the guitarist. The use of color suggests that Picasso may have seen something in the man, perhaps hope. It says that there is more than meets the eye in the defeated and poor.
Historical analysis
The painting was created in late 1903 and early 1904. During this period, modernism, impressionism, post-impressionism, and symbolism seemed to influence Picasso’s artwork greatly. The painting was created during the Picasso blue period. It was known as the blue period because of the artist’s troubling life at the time. It was characterized by poor standards of living and the suicide of a dear friend. During this time, Picasso and his friend Carlos casagemas had abandoned their education and went looking for fame. A year later, Carlos became so miserable, resulting from a failed love affair, that he ended up taking his own life. Picasso fell into depression and became isolated. This formed the inspiration for the painting. In addition, Picasso himself was very poor at the time, hence related to beggars, prostitutes and the outcast of the society. This period lasted from 1901-1904. During this period, most of his artwork was in colors blue, grey, and black, and the figures depicted melancholy and tragedy. The blue period leads to the rose period and, eventually, cubism, which he is acknowledged for creating.
During the blue period, Picasso had not managed to find his standing as an artist and was not popular enough to make sales of his paintings. This further worsened his psychological state. The artist’s choice of using the color blue was meant to communicate the pain and desolation he was experiencing at the time. During this period, Picasso used feature outcasts as the main element of his paintings. Due to the hopelessness that he felt, the artist used subjects considered outcasts in the society, such as drunkards, the homeless, prostitutes, and the poor. The color blue represented the vulnerability in his life and of his subjects. The color also helped bring out the various aspects of suffering, such as anguish, loss, poverty, and rejection. Picassos paintings during the blue period were among the most famous masterpieces.
The rose period started in 1904. He changed his style and started to create brighter paintings. His paintings depicted happiness and cheer compared to his works during the blue period. Unlike blue, the artist used pink and red to bring out the uplifting nature of the work.
Conclusion
Picasso was able to bring out the guitarist’s plight through his way of shading and choice of color. Although the theme of hopelessness and desolation is evident, the artist also brings out the theme of hope and triumph over the challenges that life brings through art. The painting took place during the blue period that was characterized by hopelessness and despondency. The artist drew the old guitarist towards the end of his blue period. The artist got his inspiration from his living situation and the death of a close friend. There is also a similarity with El Grego’s works in the way he brings out the old man’s features. The painting revokes feelings in the audience. It leaves one with a haunting feeling, and it is good to look at. The mood is easy to read, and it leaves one with deep thought. The old guitarist is a masterpiece, and it continues to be relevant up to date because of the resounding message it passes along. The drawing is of an old man crutching onto his guitar. The guitar and musical creativity are some of the protection for the man. The old guitarist seems to be in another world, created by his musical content, representing Picasso’s connection with his artwork. Picasso is very popular and is one of the most influential characters of the 20th century. His art genius is something to admire truly. He started slow, but eventually, his works became known for generations. The old guitarist presents the suffering he was going through at the time. His wise color selection reinforces his ideas. The painting makes the audience react with sympathy. He chooses the color blue and white. The painting was done during the blue period, which lasted roughly 4 years. During this period, the artist drew paintings with the same themes. For this artist, the period was filled with suffering and pain, and he depicted this in his paintings. He spent most of his time in the field, where he mostly found subjects for his paintings. At the time, Picasso was in deep suffering due to the recent death of a friend, and also, he was feeling hopeless because he was not making much from his artwork.
Fig 1: The old guitarist by Pablo Picasso
References
Murray. (2018, October 1). Analysis: Pablo Picasso, the old guitarist, 1903. Fine Art News: Marilyn’s Warhol, Picasso Cubism, Chagall’s Village. https://news.masterworksfineart.com/2018/10/01/pablo-picasso-the-old-guitarist
Smith. (2020). the old guitarist. Original Lithographs, Paintings, Etchings, and Prints. https://www.masterworksfineart.com/