P a b l o P i c a s s o
// O l d J e w w i t h a B o y //
O i l o n c a n v a s
( 1 9 0 3 )
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Painted at the height of
Picasso's Blue Period, when his
pictures had become steeped
in this cold, melancholy-inducing colour. The wretched
of the earth - prostitutes,
beggars and convicts - people
the canvases of the Blue
Period, often posed with a
premeditated awkwardness
that emphasizes their lack of
any settled, respectable place
in the world.
The old Jew,
blind, destitute and a member,
of an outcast race, epitomizes
the suffering with which ,
Picasso was obsessed at this
time; in true romantic fashion
he seems to have believed that,
as an artist, he too was
doomed to be rejected and
despised. The theme of
blindness also appears in other
pictures, perhaps reflecting
Picasso's awareness of
his
father's deteriorating sight;
one interpretation of the
figures in this scene is that
they represent Don Jose and the young Picasso.
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Source: Life and Works of Picasso
Further Reading: Biography I
Further Reading: Life of Picasso
Further Reading: Pablo Picasso & Jean Cocteau
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