Human Emotions

-Artist: Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

-Title: "The Blindman's Meal" 

-Medium: Oil Paint 

-Provenance: Currently in The Metropolitan Museum of Art located in New York City. 

-Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/50.188

-Describe: Man who seems to be blind and solemn is eating bread and using his sense of touch to gently feel a pitcher. Colors include darker and lighter hues of blue and muted yellows. Lighter color focused of his face and fingertips. Overall there is a lack of vibrancy in the coloring.

-Analyze: Use of only the colors blue, green, white, and yellow-green. Contrast between the intensity of the blues throughout the painting. A diagonal line beginning at the man's eye creates a focal point on the bread and pitcher in the lower left corner. Balance is asymmetrical considering the man takes up a majority of the right side of the piece. The form of this piece portrays the bread and pitcher in front of the man on the table. 

-Interpret: The curved line which is the man's back, the connection of his eye to the meal, his fingertips on the pitcher and the muted blue colors used in this painting all represent the difficulty of the blind man's life. By looking at the man, one May notice his lack of posture, his focus on his meal, and his use of touch. You could infer the way he is sitting, that he lacks confidence and joy and that the stress he is enduring, is weighing down on his shoulders causing him to sit the way he is. He focuses on the meal and uses his fingertips to feel the pitcher. I infer that Picasso was metaphorically portraying how simple things in life and not so simple for him, just like eating a meal can be a bit more of a challenge for a blind man than one who can see what he is doing. 

-Judgement: I feel drawn into this work by the emotion it projects. By viewing it, I can read the situation Picasso is portraying by focusing on the design elements and the blind man in the painting. The unique form of the Blind man along with the hi lights throughout the image make it very appealing to the eye. It is safe to say through design, emotion, and choice of color, Picasso has been successful in communicating the content of the artwork.