The Old Guitarist By Pablo Picasso As An Example Of Expressionism

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Pablo Picasso was one amongst some of the most prominent painters of the twentieth century. He was born on October twenty-five, 1881, in the city of Malaga, Spain. Critics often break down Picasso’s career into distinct, individual periods. The Old Guitarist was painted during what is known as Picasso’s Blue Period in late 1903. The medium used for this painting is oil on panel. The size of this painting is approximately 48.4’x32.5.’. The painting depicts an elderly, blind musician with ragged vesture. The man is weakly hunched over his guitar while playing in the streets of Spain. Pablo Picasso is often credited with the creation of Cubism, thought he used and revolutionized many other styles during his career.

Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period occurred between 1901-1904. During this period there had been very important and influential changes in both Picasso’s life and in European Art. Picasso’s work before his blue period started was already influenced by European trends that focused on subjects and content that weren’t typically portrayed or depicted in Art. Such content included prostitutes, drunks, and beggars, as well as the general ideas of poverty, rejection, and defiance. Picasso was more drawn into these trends because “At the time, he was running with a group of radical artists, writers, and anarchists who he’d met between his hometown of Barcelona and trips to Paris.”(Gotthardt 2017) which clearly took an effect on Picasso’s overall content. According to some historians, Picasso’s Blue period was also greatly inspired by “Picasso’s own emotional turmoil and financial destitution. Following a journey through Spain and the suicide of his close friend and confidant Carlos Casagemas (1881-1901)” (Masterworks Fine Art Gallery ‘Pablo Picasso Blue Period’) One of the main aspects or features that characterizes Picasso’s Blue Period work is that they were “essentially monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally warmed by other colors” (‘1901 to 1904’ 2003) such features are very clearly present on The Old Guitarist painting which is for the most part composed of melancholy blue and sickly green tones.

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At the time that Picasso painted The Old Guitarist’s Modernism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, and Symbolism had merged into a single movement that is known as Expressionism such movement influenced not only Picasso’s style but the way he saw life as well. “Expressionism is an artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person. The artist accomplishes this aim through distortion, exaggeration, primitivism, and fantasy and through the vivid, jarring, violent, or dynamic application of formal elements.” (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica 2019) most of these elements are used in The Old Guitarist painting. To begin, Picasso used his mostly blue and green tones palette to give the painting an emphasis on the overall mood of the scene. Because blue is commonly associated with emotions of distress and sadness. By just looking at the painting, we can see that the colors he used automatically create a very gloomy and somber ambiance for the Old Guitarist. The way Picasso remarked the old man’s body in a very skinny, bony and even crooked way is also very characteristic of expressionism paintings because of the exaggeration that was used on the body features.

It seems as if each detail that Picasso used while painting The Old Guitarist features a clear purpose. There is motivation behind every single detail of this work. Clearly Picasso was trying to convey something. If we focus on the scene as a whole, we can more effectively see his method in action. “A twilight mood of low spirits is cast over the subject’s unnatural blue-tinted flesh, his garments and the ambient encompassing space. The angular gestures and attenuated limbs and features of this downcast, blind musician reinforce impressions established by the insistent blue color.”(Phaidon 2008) Picasso used elements such as color and style in a very perceptive and smart way while painting the Old Guitarist to create an overall mood and generate an initial reaction from his audience. For the most part, Picasso managed to maintain his melancholy or sorrowful theme throughout the painting, with an exception in the guitar. The guitar plays a focal point in the scene as it is the only warm color or tone that can be found in the whole scene. The guitar in a way also affects the mood of the painting, as it creates a feeling of hopefulness or spirituality in the middle of so much sadness and sorrow that it’s being reinforced by color scheme. The color it seems was Picasso’s greatest advantage, he knew how to utilize color to express himself and his emotions on canvas. Most of Picasso’s work even part of his Cubism paintings were influenced by feelings and emotions.

When it comes to the actual purpose of the Old Guitarist or what was really Picasso trying to convey with his painting, it’s very hard to point to a specific idea because he lived a very difficult life from what I could read through. It seems most of his work is definitely connected with solitude and distress. According to some critics, “Picasso used the old man as the subject of his artwork to represent the life of isolation that most artists are often forced to live”.(Public Delivery 2020) even though music is commonly something that allows people to connect with each other in this case music or the guitarist career represents a burden to him because it oppresses him, taking away his time and money while he is trying to survive. the old guitarist could also easily represent any artist during that era not only musicians because it was very hard for them to make a living from their art. “His environment was also painted to represent the life that lower-class individuals lived at the time.”(Public Delivery 2020) which Picasso also lived through for most of his life. He was always struggling financially. And it was difficult for him as an artist to unleash all of his potential while not being able to live properly. The painting “was intended to haunt onlookers in a way that would make them question why the working class and high-class individuals continued to prosper while those that needed the most help continue to languish in poverty.”(Public Delivery 2020) I think that despite the overall ambiance of the painting it’s important to note that the Guitar is still the focal point in the scene.

The guitar provides the whole painting with hope. It reminds us that regardless of all the struggles the guitarist is going through, he still has the one things that keep him alive and that is his music.

I decided to focus on the Old Guitarist painting because of the emotion that was used in it. I feel that what makes the painting so valuable and effective was Picasso’s use of emotions and feelings. I think he was very clever with the details of his painting. From the moment I saw the Old Guitarist painting I could already feel the sorrow that lingers from it. Even if you look at the painting without any context, the scene still upsets and disturbs you in a way. The painting can be interpreted in many ways which makes it even deeper and more complex. Overall it is a very well-made panting.

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