Created in 1903, after Casagemas’s death, Pablo Picasso’s ‘The Old Guitarist’ is one of the best representations of the ‘Blue’ period for Picasso. Pablo Picasso was one of the founding fathers of Cubism, and he definitely wore his heart on his sleeve. Following the suicide and subsequent death of his best friend, Casagemas, in a Parisian cafe where they had spent so much time, Pablo Picasso changed his color palette from the rainbow to a more depressed hue. ‘The Old Guitarist’ was painted in a series of solemn and colorful efforts, all surrounded by musical instruments and the color blue. Appropriately called the blue period, this was the point in Pablo Picasso’s life where he demonstrated how much pain and beauty go into artistic work. The tortured artist came out during this period and was in no way ashamed of that emotion.
“Pain and death are integral parts of life”, you would hear Pablo Picasso say so many times, especially after the death of Casagemas. ‘The Old Guitarist’ was created in the city of Madrid Spain, and was an early effort by Picasso to demonstrate the power and functionality of ‘Cubism’ and the color ‘blue’. It is important to realize that the color blue symbolizes sadness, depression, impatience and lost love, all of which were characteristics and sentiments of both Casagemas and Picasso. The interesting thing about ‘El Viejo Guitarrista’ is that in the fraternization of the guitar and the man who plays the guitar, a faint outline of a woman can be seen.
It is said that this was the initial subject of the painting and that Picasso suddenly changed his mind and painted ‘The Old Guitarist’ instead. Are they two independent works in one? Maybe it’s just a representation of a fragmented woman, in a man’s life and music is also a staple? These are things and themes that cubism brings out to the individual viewer and will continue to spark discussion after discussion about the commonalities and dichotomy of Picasso’s works during the blue period.
Many people have been inspired by ‘The Old Guitarist’, such as Paul McCartney and Wallace Stevens. The eventual success of ‘El Viejo Guitarrista’ demonstrated the burning fever that millions of aspiring artists, and general fans of great art, possess for Pablo Picasso and his works. To say that Pablo Picasso’s works have almost achieved ‘cult status’ would be an understatement, especially in ‘Avante Guard’ metropolitan places such as Paris and London. To see ‘The Old Guitarist’ as anything more than an introspective of a life well lived would be an embarrassment and one that few are afraid to step on.
