This is, perhaps, the first period in the work of Picasso, in relation to which we can speak about the individuality of the creator, despite the still sounding notes of influence. The first creative uplift was provoked by a long-lasting depression: February 1901 in Madrid Picasso learned that his close friend Carlos Casagemas had died. It constituted the ground for the Blue period. Picasso later recalled: “I started painting in blue when I learned of Casagemas's death”.
However, at his first Paris exhibition for Vollard in June 1901, there was no blue in his paintings: 64 bright and sensual works with a noticeable influence of the Impressionists. The Blue period was gradually coming into its own: the objects were sharply-contoured, the artist no longer strived to make three-dimensional images and, eventually, abandoned the tradition of perspective drawing. His palette became less diverse, the accents of blue more visible. The "Portrait de Jaime Sabartes", which was created in 1901, marked the beginning of the Blue Period. When Sabartes saw the finished work he was “astonished to realize what inspired his friend to create this painting”, - “it is the specter of my solitude seen from the outside”.
Grey-blue and light -blue-green deep cold colors, colors of sorrow and low spirits are constantly in those works. Picasso called blue as "color of all colors". The frequent topics those pictures are exhausted mothers and their children, vagabonds, beggars and blinds.
"Blue" Period
This is, perhaps, the first period in the work of Picasso, in relation to which we can speak about the individuality of the creator, despite the still sounding notes of influence. The first creative uplift was provoked by a long-lasting depression: February 1901 in Madrid Picasso learned that his close friend Carlos Casagemas had died. It constituted the ground for the Blue period. Picasso later recalled: “I started painting in blue when I learned of Casagemas's death”.
However, at his first Paris exhibition for Vollard in June 1901, there was no blue in his paintings: 64 bright and sensual works with a noticeable influence of the Impressionists. The Blue period was gradually coming into its own: the objects were sharply-contoured, the artist no longer strived to make three-dimensional images and, eventually, abandoned the tradition of perspective drawing. His palette became less diverse, the accents of blue more visible. The "Portrait de Jaime Sabartes", which was created in 1901, marked the beginning of the Blue Period. When Sabartes saw the finished work he was “astonished to realize what inspired his friend to create this painting”, - “it is the specter of my solitude seen from the outside”.
Grey-blue and light -blue-green deep cold colors, colors of sorrow and low spirits are constantly in those works. Picasso called blue as "color of all colors". The frequent topics those pictures are exhausted mothers and their children, vagabonds, beggars and blinds.
