“Picasso portrayed me the way he saw me in the café. When I arrived, canvas stood facing the wall. When he put the painting up on the easel, I was astonished to see myself just as he had surprised me in the café. Here is the spectre of my solitude, seen from without. The line which encloses the idea, eloquent in its simplicity, fixes a gesture suggestive of the artist’s compassion upon surprising his friend in solitude. Such is the image returned to me by the clear light of Picasso’s observation, a fugitive hallucination of his own restlessness, tormented by the discovery of his friend peering into the abyss of his loneliness.”
Painted in the beginning of the Blue Period, this piece had been stored in Picasso’s workshop at boulevard de Clichy; it changed hands for a long time and, eventually, was bought by Shchukin; due to being frequently copied, the painting was tagged “Le bock” (“The Beer”). “Not being fond of seeing myself in a mirror, nor in the photo, I love looking at this portrait… It is the first of my oil-on-canvas portraits”.
From the memoirs of Jaime Sabartes
24 May byats wurnt wrote: 'I think, when dealing with an abstract piece, one must take an approach similar to reading.
On the right, I can see buildings, a staple of modern life.
Warm colours, may indicate heat?
There's a curtain on the left harlequin.
Now we just have to make sense of it.'
15 May Wong Tsz Hang wrote: 'The drawings are confusing, there are many colours mixed together and don't know what it is. And it looks unusual.'
23 April Santiago from San Diego wrote: 'Did Picasso ever draw some daises white and yellow on a window sill?'
30 March Cassandra from Scandinavia wrote: 'This in intruiguing, I am researching this painting for a school project.'
25 March Cosma from Germany wrote: ':) Look at this great picture and smile. GO PAINTIG NOT WAR'
24 February Vic from Melbourne wrote: 'Can't believe Picasso made a sculpture of Ye himself'
12 February Alan from Rochester wrote: 'Anybody know in what museum or collection HEAD OF A WOMAN WITH BLUE HAT RED RIBBON
(Tête de femme au chapeau bleu a ruban rouge), 1939 is located?'
10 February Micheal Scott from Rochester wrote: 'This says a lot about our society.'
24 January Per Hansen from Hawley, PA wrote: 'French to English translation is incorrect for painting labeled "Man leans hands across has table", 1916.
Correct translation: Man with hands crossed leaning on a table'
06 December Hugh Janis from Ur mother's wrote: 'yeah I mean this is cool and all but when I was 8 years old I was rounding up all the neighborhood stray cats and I used to make them fight for food. I was helping those cats more than this painting helps me so if you think about it, this painting really is not that impressive from a grand perspective'
17 November Luke from UK wrote: 'I know nothing about art, but that horse is insanely good ! The legs are perfect, from an 8 year old boy from memory... Insane'
07 August May de la Vega from Miami wrote: 'My inspiration was the great Master P. Picasso, I love his art, and his style helped me to get my own style.'
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