Picasso lived in Barcelona and Paris in his adolescent period after being born in Malaga in 1881. He was recognized as a great talent and a genius at the Academy in Madrid and in 1904 he moved to Paris temporarily. His talent was fostered by his father who was also a painter of not much ability. Pablo Picasso became a painter because he was encouraged by his family to explore his artistic abilities.
Picasso’s early life was unsettled as he moved through Europe. “His gradual transformation from adolescence to adult was manifested in change in his personal and artistic identity” (Blum 270). As an artist Picasso grew from “adolescent to adult” while he was finding himself. While traveling back and forth in Europe, Picasso managed to find not only himself, but his artistic ability and direction. There was much turbulence in Picasso’s period of adolescence and his childhood involved many hardships. His early childhood was influences by an earthquake and his sister being born. Also, his other sister’s death made a great impact on him and on his art as well as his separation from his family and going to a foreign land. “Departing was an adolescent disengagement from past and present object relationships while anticipating a different and exciting future in his life an art” (Blum 269). His parents expected from his to excel in his art and he also had narcissist needs. The family was provided with all kinds of help from professionals during this period, even the psychological. Picasso was emotionally attached to his mother and she worshipped him as a gift from God. He was resolute to becoming famous and earn money in order to satisfy his mother. Lola, the sister, was his model in his early period and he kept being in touch with her all the time especially since he rarely visited Spain at this moment. He hated his siblings as well as his father in early life and this influences his art. “Picasso was awake and watchful, working at night while his partners slept. He slept during the day, having to be coaxed out of bed” (Blum 270). He identified with the women in his life and painted that he was protecting them while they were sleeping. Conchita, his sister, died in his presence and this left trace on his soul and on his art. Picasso worked during the night and slept during the day in his early days.
Picasso’s early work started with the Blue Period and he was influenced by other artists. “Picasso pursued his unique artistic path, he assimilated the work of other masters, such as Cezanne, Gauguin, Lautrec, Van Gogh, Munch, and others” (Blum 270). His ability and tendency to use the work of “other masters” shaped him and allowed him to develop as an artist. Picasso was a great genius and he could not find his path in life easily which is why he identified himself with people who were unusual. “Identifying with social outcasts, Picasso painted the depressed, deprived, and the downtrodden” (Blum 271). The motivation in his paintings stem from single mothers, prostitutes, criminals, bums, and other under-privileged groups of people. The Blue Period was influenced by brushstrokes which were thin as used by Gauguin and his prior influence was from Van Gogh. Blue can be the metaphor for the great wonders of nature, but also for melancholy which is the case in Picasso’s artwork. The representation of social outcasts was Goya’s influence although he used the blue color. “The blues of his paintings became darker in hue, and dark blue outlines became more prominent during the course of the Blue Period” (Blum 271). It was Picasso’s attempt to depict his own melancholia and grief as well as the process of mourning. There were also feelings of abandonment, separation and resentment which occurred during his adolescence. However, his suffering lead him to create and made his determination stronger. Blue Period helped Picasso shape his art as well as his life because this was a period which he dedicated to finding his true self through painting and which helped shape his artistic self.
The Blue Period expressed Picassos’ melancholic side and it helped him to establish himself as an influential artist. He was influences by the great masters and he finally found his own path in his career. “Achieving emancipation and independence was accompanied by emotional upheaval. His inner reactions of grief, loss, and loneliness were expressed in his melancholic blue compositions” (Blum 270). Picasso painted most of his paintings from this period in Barcelona, but also in Paris because he moved a lot. El Greco influenced him which can be seen in elongated hands as well as faces although the blue which was monochromatic was his own addition because the paintings of other Spanish painters were colorful. “Occasional irregular dabs of green and grey were also evident. The blue paintings were actually concurrent with lesser-known erotic art in other colors, such as sepia, as well as some multicolored paintings” (Blum 270). Picasso was looking for his true self during this period and he expressed his feeling through the use of this monochromatic blue which was associated with melancholy. Picasso also used his mother’s last name after he initially used his father’s last name as well. However, he chose to go by the name Picasso only and not Ruiz which was his father’s last name. This depicted his relationship with his father which was inconsistent and conflicting. The Blue period began with Picasso’s renunciation of his father’s name and his identification with his mother. At this period, his lost his friend Casagemas due to his suicide and they had a shared studio which also influenced hi Blue Period. This was due to unreturned love. After this misfortunate event, Picasso had a romantic affair with his late friend’s girlfriend. His paintings from this period suggest that he identified himself with the women in his family and that he scorned his father at the same time. He also wanted to make Casagemas alive in his paintings because he felt guilty. Moreover, he was influenced by the birth of Lola, his sister upon the death of Conchita, his other sister. “The Old Guitarist” has figures which are blind because it was a phase Picasso was going through. He used many of his drawings as well as paintings to depict figures who have their eyes closed which suggests blindness. It is a strange decision to paint blind people since painting is a visual art. His influences were Goy and Rembrandt who also depicted blind people and this was an influence from literature. There is compassion related to blind figures which is why Picasso and the other artists kept painting them. The whole Blue Period was accompanied by Picasso’s state of depression and art was his therapy. There is much sadness and pity related to these painting which did not sell at the time. This was the process of self-healing for Picasso and it was successful. Picasso was also afraid of being rejected and under-appreciated which is why he chose the color blue. The “Old Guitarist” depicts and old man holding a guitar and having a very modest appearance. He evokes the sense of pity and he is all alone, bending over the guitar without any companions but the instrument.
All of Picasso’s work was autobiographical and his choice of painting blind people was derived from the fact that he was in grief and in search of himself. Artists were also metaphorically blind according to these paintings and some of the people in the paintings had companions who were not blind or who were blind in one eye. Blindness can also be observed as Picasso protecting himself from the envy of other people.
Works Cited
Blum, Harold P. "Picasso's prolonged adolescence, Blue Period, and blind figures." Psychoanalytic Review 100.2 (2013): 267-87. Print.
