The importance of colour in
Picasso's early work is
suggested by the universal use
of 'Blue' and 'Rose' as handy
labels for entire phases of it.
Yet suddenly, in this self-portrait and other works of
1906, the colours are
restrained to the point of
neutrality, and Picasso's
painterly skills, so delicately
employed in Boy with a Pipe, have been
abandoned in favour of a
simplified, monumental style.
The artist's face is neither a
detailed likeness nor a
psychological study; instead,
it has the masklike aspect
and sense of power found in
primitive art. And in fact
Picasso was being deeply
influenced at this time by
ancient Iberian stone
sculpture. Then in 1906 he
and Fernande took a trip to
Gosol in northern Spain, and
its stark landscape helped to
inspire a new style - one with
which Picasso
would use
to
lay the foundations of
modern art.
