The power of emotion

The Old Guitarist

Artist: Pablo Picasso

Title: The Old Guitarist

Medium: oil on panel

Date: 1903

Provenance: Barcelona, Spain

Source: artic.edu

Describe: this painting depicts an old, homeless looking, man clutching a guitar. His skinny shoulder, thin fingers and torn clothes further suggest his homelessness. He looks sad yet he still plays on. 

Analyze: The plain pallet of blues and grays creates feelings of loneliness, depression and alienation. The sharp lines and angles of his neck and face with his mouth drawn and his eyes closed demonstrate a hardness and a suffering. The only color shift is the guitar. The value scale ranges from the harsh darks behind him to the lights of his hair and light on his face. The dark shadows of his eyes create contrast with the lightness of his forehead.  His fingers are long and skeleton like, as though he is no longer with the living, his face is turned away and looking down.  The shapes created are primarily 2D  and the primary color scheme of blue and yellow is used here. The contrast between the guitar and himself creates emphasis on the guitar.

Interpret: The use of blue grays creates an overall feeling of loneliness and sadness. His face turned away and the sharp angles of his body and ripped clothes further suggest abandonment and depression. This painting is sad. Looking at it one can feel all the loneliness and suffering Picasso felt. 

Judge: This painting so accurately captures the feelings of sadness and alienation. Picasso used this piece to channel his own struggles and he did so beautifully. The crushing emotion and desperation of this piece is outstanding and Picasso will always be hailed as one of the greatest artists of the symbolism age.