Pablo Picasso The Old Guitar Analysis

Improved Essays
An Old Man's Sorrow
In the beginning of the twentieth century Pablo Picasso created something called the "blue period." During this period the style of artwork was monochromatic and usually used colors such as dark blue or greens. Use of such colors gave the paintings of the time a gloomy and sorrowful appearance. One of the most well-known paintings of this time is The Old Guitarist. From the stark contrast creates a disjointed message of a young man's mind. Picasso portrays his old man as being sad and impoverished however, he depicts the guitar as a bright beacon of hope for the guitarist.
The fundamental theme of the painting is a gritty and grimy depiction of a sorrowful and demoralized man. To start off the analysis, a majority of the
…show more content…
Picasso did have a blue and a grey spell in his career, but this guitar is an oddity. Instead of it being a normal grey blue color it is a brownish gold. Almost depicted as a beacon in the picture. Usually artists create a focal point for a painting or a position to focus on however, no lines meet at a specific point in this painting leading the viewer to believe that the guitar must be the main area of focus. Further observation shows that there is something off about the location of the guitarist's hands, his left hand is in a playing position ready to play, but the hand that strums the guitar is stationary with no fingerings along with being away from the strings. Another anomaly is unlike the man the guitar seems to be completely untouched from the decay of the world and physical depression of the man. This display of contrasting values creates a great an amanous theme for the world around the main and his guitar.
Pablo Picasso's blue period also touches a primal woe and that is the fear of being alone. The man sits alone with nothing but the guitar as his comfort. As to why Picasso created this man is unknown but, the message it creates is interesting. How even though the man appears to be weak and frail he still finds some color in his world as the guitar. Music after all, is one of the most primal ways to express yourself and your feelings. The messages of loneliness are also universal in the human

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Though a rather uncreative title, Coming out of Church lacks nothing in interest visually. The painting, done by Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta, was created some time before 1875 in Spain reveals the harsh class differences and cultural norms of the mid 1800’s while also revealing the artists own personal outlook on these phenomena. Madrazo cultivates a scene of gloomy metaphor in his use of rain, and a visual representation of his opnion on the class division through the use of gesture, costume, subject, juxtaposition and light. The end product is both a beautifully crafted piece of work, and a painting that reflects Madrazo’s critique on his belief in the dangers and ailments of class division. Location, location, location; not just important in real estate, it is also prevalent in the location of the scene in a painting.…

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The main color in this picture is blue, and blue is a symbol of sadness. However, there are also some orange in this pictures as well. Orange is a symbol of hope. The painter used both opposite color to show not only the cruel of the war, but also the happiness of winning the war as well. Moreover, when we look at the soldier's back, we can get a complicates feeling.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He begins to justify this through the symbol of concealing paint, the destruction of symbols of civilization and the character of jack. One way in which the theme is portrayed id directly through the symbol of concealing paint.…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With the minimum use of different colors Picasso has truly created a master piece. The subtle colors create an image as it would look if seen by the naked eye in person. The background varies from different shades of a light blue color. The top portion of the painting has a very light blue color.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the painting I chose, you see many different elements of art that come together to form one unified piece. The art I chose to criticize is “Music – Pink and Blue II.” In the painting you see many different colors coming together to form a beautiful piece of art. This painting is an oil painting, with no identifiable shape. The art work is a 35 x 29 1/8.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the excerpt Rebecca, the narrator is recounting a dream she had about a place that is dear to her, which is called Manderley. While reading the excerpt the reader will come across a variation of moods. In the beginning one will come across a mood of mystery. Eventually, as the reader continues on throughout the passage the atmosphere starts to become nightmarish and very eerie. Subsequently, as the reader nears the end of the passage they will start to get a feeling of nostalgia created by the passage.…

    • 1327 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Distinctive visual images have the power to influence the understanding of particular worlds through the pathos evoked by the experiences of others. This notion is effectively portrayed through John Misto’s play “The Shoe-Horn Sonata” and Shane Koyczan’s TED Talk, “To This Day… For the Bullied and Beautiful”. The audience is emotionally stimulated by the dehumanising attitude and treatment towards others in their unique worlds, the imbalance of power. However, they also enlighten the power of music as a source of hope and a survival mechanic.…

    • 1097 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Afghan Girl

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The color is able to work well with the emotions captured, because turquoise (a shade of blue), is known to represent sadness and depression. This idea can be found in the article Art Emanates from Pain and Sadness: Picasso's Blue Period, where it explained how, “The monochromatic use of blue was fairly standard in symbolist painting, often related to representations of hopelessness”, which showed how the photographer planned to have his image associated with such depressing emotions. The altered image on the cover of the magazine uses a lighter background, and swaps the turquoise for grey. This alteration of the photo for the cover was done in order for the audience to focus more on the piercing stare and make it pop with the neutral gray, as opposed to having it be somewhat overshadowed by the turquoise of the…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    This pair is also completely unaware of the man sitting across from them, who is just as isolated and alone as they are. Also, the similar theme of being trapped in one’s own world is conveyed in this painting. There are no doors pictured in the painting which illustrates the concept that Americans are focused on themselves and trapped inside their minds without any care for others. This bar appears to be situated in the city, but there is no one out on the streets. The city is desolate which leads to the feeling of aloneness and isolation.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    To attract and keep the attention of the audience in a genre as stale and traditional as still life painting can be a difficult task, but many painters have risen to the challenge in the hundreds of years since its invention. These methods are numerous and involve the exploration of tensions such as those that exist between abstraction and representation, or moralizing versus hedonistic. Considered one of the lowest types of art by the French Academy, Still Life with a Bottle of Rum, Shoes, and Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill are three still paintings that have managed to rise above the typical wave that have been produced by artists of varying skills for centuries. Though looking at each alone does not truly illuminate the reasoning…

    • 1733 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout history the art of portraiture has been practiced by various artists. One popular artist who has explored this was Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo. Picasso being a more well-known and mainstream artist compared to Kahlo. Although they come from different times in history and a very different location geologically but similar culturally. Pablo Picasso and Frida Kahlo both have endeavoured in the various ways of portraiture as a way of making art.…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Painting, “The Old Guitarist” by Pablo Picasso, 1903 Picasso emerged as a Symbolist painter from Spain, inspired by the pessimistic mood that saturated the Symbolist art movement at the turn of the century, as witnessed in the melancholic works of Aubrey Beardsley and Edvard Munch (Arnason & Mansfield, 2016, p. 137). Symbolism (1880-1910) followed the philosophy that behind the physical world lay a spiritual reality (theartstory.org, 2016). Symbolism gives great emphasis on the use of emotion, feelings and subjective thought rather than that of realistic thought. Symbolistic artists produce works that are personal and express their own ideas, like their power to reveal the…

    • 1702 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Manao Tuppau Analysis

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Gauguin made his first visit to Tahiti (a French colony) in March 1891, and did not return to Paris until May 1893. It was a hugely productive period in Gauguin's career, saying himself that, “In the two years I have spent here, with only a few months lost, I have produced sixty-six more or less fine canvases and a number of ultra-primitive sculptures. That is enough for any one man. " One of the works that came from this time Gauguin spent in Tahiti is called “Manao Tupapau” or “Spirit of the Dead Watching” (oil on canvas, 1892).…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In Picassos painting the woman are unclothed and lines are sharp because he was influenced by the angular characteristics of African and Iberian artists’ works in museums and galleries. Picassos painting lacks individuality and the women are not conveying and emotions in my opinion the painting is very dull and lifeless. It seems as if certain things were thrown together in this painting as if he was experimenting with different kinds of works he saw. The…

    • 167 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Scream Poem Analysis

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages

    “The Scream” I really like this painting because somehow it involves mystery and insecurity and to my eyes, the rare views in it reflect a sense of how deep the feelings and thoughts of a person can be. In addition, the fact that the composition does not allow viewers to appreciate the face of the screaming person, is what has drawn me to it. Even though it seems to be that it was a lovely afternoon for everyone, it seems that it was not for the scared looking person. Although two boats are seen on the lake and two people walking very pleasingly behind, the scared looking person seems to be astonished and perhaps confused toward something. Hence, looking at this mysterious individual posing his hands on his face with his mouth open has given me the impression that he or she is appreciating something non real that no one else is able to notice; no one but him.…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays