Picasso's 'The Old Guitarist': An Analysis

 by Alexia Romaniuc

Picasso’s infamous Blue period ran between 1901 and 1904: this is the period of time in which Picasso’s works contained the common theme of a blue palette of different values. One historic event that led up to the time when Picasso’s blue period was consummated includes the industrial revolution which peaked around 1840 in Britain and later spread to the rest of Europe. This was the era in which work ‘was to be fast, coordinated, and intense, without the admixture of distractions common in pre industrial labour’ (https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Europe/Social-upheaval). 

This undeniably led to exhaustion of the working class and the lower class as hard labour became normalised. The old Guitarist (1903) is portrayed to be in a contorted position: his body language is unsettling, depicting an image of exhaustion and confinement due to the bent head and crossed legs. His body language leads me to believe that he represents the overworked lower class. His defined muscles suggest malnutrition, poverty, reflecting poverty stricken Paris at the time. In addition to this, simple and undefined clothes allude to the figure’s social status of lower class. This is a reflection of Picasso’s own inner turmoil, caused by being impoverished and facing the loss of his friend Carlos Casagemas who committed suicide as a result of a failed romance in 1901. It is rumoured that The Blue Period contained the inner turmoil of Picasso due to the loss of his friend as well as the guilt associated with Picasso’s romantic involvement with a woman who Casagemas loved. The unrequited love was allegedly one of the reasons that drove Casagemas to suicide and Picasso to a pit of guilt. After the uncovering of this information, an exploration of meaning leads me to theorise that the bent head of the guitarist may be due to guilt and shame, communicating the artist’s guilt. The combination of tragedies enabled Picasso to exert his pain creatively, communicating the ‘blues’ of society through his works. This is supported by Laura Payne who maintains that ‘a constant theme in Picasso’s work was his own life’.

Furthermore, colour ‘adds one further element to the complexity of the complete work of art’ (p43 The Meaning of Art by Herbert Read). The combination of the contorted body language and the colour blue adds another dimension to the conceptual meaning of the painting: the monochromatic blue implies a complete submersion into one emotion which mirrors Picasso’s inner turmoil. Picasso uses a cold-toned blue to create this piece which potentially tells the viewer that the subject of the painting is experiencing a negative emotion. Looking at the connotations of the colour blue, Max Luscher supports that when an individual is attracted to the colour blue, he feels ‘unification with a sense of self’ and ‘need for rest’. The Old Guitarist’s body language supports these connotations because he is in a sitting position with a bent head that suggests the ‘need for rest’. This is reinforced by the collective experience of the exhausted working class during the industrial revolution. His ability to connect to such a large audience through a single artwork is remarkable and applauded by Laura Payne who believes his highly biographical works make him ‘one of the most human and approachable artists’.  Depth and meaning can be identified from the clear emphasis on the old man’s age using exaggerated highlights that contrast with the dark background. This heightens the man’s idea of self as it gives the viewer the impression that he is glowing in the dark: his character is strong and identifiable despite society reducing him down through generational neglect of the lower classes. In addition to this, Laura Payne points out that the blue that Picasso used was ‘a colouring favoured by the French Symbolist Movement’ therefore it is safe to assume that Picasso was influenced by relevant movements in his lifetime. The French symbolist movement was a literary movement in the 19th century which later seeped into art and theatre. Artists that engaged with this movement seeked to link an emotion or perception of an event to a symbol, emphasising the experience using depth created by overtones. This can be clearly recognised within Picasso’s blue period as the blue and sombre figures symbolise ‘his experience of relative poverty and instability’. 

The guitarist is confined within the four corners of the painting; his head is near the top left corner, one of his hands is near the top right corner and the two legs point to the bottom corners of the painting. Picasso effectively captures a multitude of concepts by confining the guitarist; the allusion to societal struggles with poverty and limitation of freedom enables a wide audience to relate to the painting on a personal level. Alternatively, the man’s talent is being confined and limited by his ability to express himself as he presents himself to possess low status due to his simple clothes and malnourished appearance. As a result of this, Picasso subconsciously tells a story of the collective struggle of artists to remain afloat and not be subjected to failure as it is an unconventional lifestyle. This is potentially because it does not contribute to making the rich richer (something that the working class generally were forced to do). Another feature of this painting is the guitar which is the only part of the painting that isn’t blue. There is a contrast between the man and the guitar which separates the two subjects of the painting rather than unifying them.