Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist

Even amongst the astounding exhibits and vast permanent collection of the Art Institute, this early 20th century work by Picasso is one that continues to inspire, influence and captivate. A household name in the art realm, Picasso has contributed up to 22,000 works in his 92 years. Within his passionate outpourings the artist was sometimes known to complete 10 pieces a day. Even though his name and familiar styles are instantly recognized, a piece such as The Old Guitarist can intimately introduce the man often referred to as the greatest artist of the Twentieth Century.

Music is an art form closest to my inclination, which may be why this piece resonates within. The painting reveals that even in the worst of times, on the brink of starvation, complete solitude, closing in on death, one can find grounding through melody. The piece signifies an autobiographical moment in Picasso's early life as a street artist in struggle. Deep blue colors surround the soft brown of the guitar, giving a centered feeling that is the saving grace of a fragile old man. In the silence of his misfortune, cloaked in rags that hang from his bony structure, the old guitarist strums what could be his last serenade to whoever cares to listen. His expressionless face, blind eyes and drapery hang in despair, but his hands thrive and the guitar stands erect as the only substance keeping him alive, his last pillar of existence. The use of bluish-grey shading in his skin tone exudes his mood and the work is considered to be Picasso's mastering of his Blue Period.

The painting reminds one of the scenes on subways and streets of urban cities, like Barcelona, New York or Amsterdam. The vagabond street musician was a familiar site for Picasso in Spain in 1903 as well. At first glance you see a disheveled being wallowing in despair, but often if you look closer or as it were, listen harder, you can hear and see subtle beauty. All of Picasso's work during his Blue Period started in 1901 and possibly reflected his own state, feeling the strain of the times in Spain. At the turn of the century Spain had undergone drastic changes and recession. Picasso painted more than 50 works from 1903-1904; depicting poverty, beggars, the crippled, sickness, hunger and prostitution. Picasso used blue canvass and paints to express this mood, avoiding the warm yellows and oranges that are often seen in his later works.

Picasso had an obvious love of the Guitar, as it appears in many of his works. Not just painting, but through pieces using charcoal, chalk, wood, paper construction and sculpting. Particularly from the turn of the century to 1914, the Guitar was often a centerpiece in Picasso's art. The guitarist pictured in the work is said to be modeled after a one of Picasso's mentors who was a blind painter in Madrid. Perhaps the choice of model reflects on Picasso's own contemplation of the life of an artist.

Seeing the piece may stimulate a wonder of what the old guitarist might have been struggling with or what song Picasso imagined him playing. Something like the soulful sounds of Spanish Flamenco guitar; even though a vibrant music, it hints of a sadness that plays fitting soundtrack to the painting. While there is no immediate evidence of Picasso having actually played the guitar, one could assume that such genus would have played both exuberance and melancholy with equal brilliance.

The piece is widely covered critically, as is most of Picasso's art, but The Old Guitarist manages to stay alight as a defining work of the artist's time and place. Picasso painted The Old Guitarist at the young age of twenty-two, but it can initially strike an unknowing viewer to believe that the work is of a seasoned eye and hand. It is emblematic of an artist with foresight, as his cubist visions went on to create a foundation of Modern 20th century art.

At this early stage in his life Picasso was often scrutinized, along with his contemporaries, for work far less acclaimed than it is now. A common expression of the time was that the artists had too much soul and no form. The Old Guitarist exemplifies this, as the old man's body contorts to fit within the boundaries of the frame. The painting is all soul, but has a form of its own, which is characteristic of the old subject himself. A soulful man who could not conform to Spain's changing ways, thus cast into the streets, leaving him only his art, his music -- his guitar. A fitting theme for Picasso, who had only his art, his painting -- his brush.