MUSIC MYP SEMESTER 1

“The Old Guitarist”

A VISUAL ANALYSIS
BY AUDREY MAHARANI IHSAN

Cikal Amri Setu

October 2022
Part 1 - Observation
The Old Guitarist is an oil painting by Pablo Picasso, which he created in late 1903 and
early 1904. Because this is one of Picasso’s famous works, this isn’t my first time
discovering this masterpiece as I’ve seen this painting a few times before working on
this project. I chose it specifically because of how it is eye-catching , it shows a strong
sad aura, and my interest in its simplicity and contrast. Despite already seeing it plenty
of times before, I put aside a few minutes to fully observe this artwork again, with no
distractions. Below are the results of my observation (prior to any deep research
regarding this painting).

Result of observation

1. Subject
= This subject is a bent and sightless man who holds close to him a large,
round guitar. Its brown body represents the painting's only shift in color. Both
physically and symbolically, the instrument fills the space around the solitary
figure, who seems oblivious to his blindness and poverty as he plays. At the
time the painting was made, literature of the Symbolist movement included
blind characters who possessed powers of inner vision. The thin, skeleton-like
figure of the blind musician also has roots in art from Picasso's native country,
Spain. The old man's elongated limbs and cramped, angular posture recall the
figures of the great 16th-century artist El Greco.

2. Style
= The style is Picasso used the process of oil painting to complete this
masterpiece. Examining the painting through modern infrared technology has
shown three more figures in the painting other than the old blind guitarist. The
three figures are an old woman, a young woman, and an animal.
 3. Color
= Picasso used dark blue hues color for The Old Guitarist, giving the piece an
added sense of melancholy. The color scheme is almost monochromatic,
creating a flat, two-dimensional form. This gives the guitarist a sense of
timelessness, as it is impossible to decipher a time period or even a place that
he inhabits. In the primarily monochromatic painting The Old Guitarist,
Picasso harmonized the variations between tonal values. Clearer tones cover
the higher part of the painting, while deep, dark tones define the low end. The
artist’s decisions on where to use various greens, blues, grays, and blacks are
crucial in orchestrating the feeling of melancholy.

4. Lines
= The painting is delineated by diagonal lines with the neck of the guitar
forming the main upward diagonal. Because of this diagonal, the guitar falls
on two natural points of interest, engaging the rule of thirds. It is also
practically positioned at the center of the painting, which amplifies its focus.
There are visible lines separating the guitarist from the background and a
clear angularity to his body, the colors and shading within these lines are very
much blended.

5. Texture
= This painting doesn’t really give any sense of texture but Picasso chose to
use oil rather than another material to paint with, since oil is easily blended.
There is no choppiness in Picasso’s brushstrokes, in fact they seem to be very
consistent and long. There are some blotches in the background, but it only
seems to be to create a shadowy effect. In addition to the plain, flat guitar, the
blurry background also suggests that Picasso’s main focus for The Old
Guitarist is indeed the guitarist himself.

6. Space
= The space that recedes in front of and behind the old man looks limited.
There is a sense that the figure is close up as the image is cropped tightly and
somewhat frontal. The guitarist’s head is the focal point on the top left-hand
side of the canvas. The old man’s torso is angular which is somehow
accentuated by the grim lines under his face.

7. Composition
= The Old Guitarist is one of the most haunting pieces created during Pablo
Picasso's blue period. The Old Guitarist featured the usage of a
monochromatic blue palette and an overall impoverished tone with the
distinguished exception of the guitar, which Picasso rendered in a much
warmer, brown hue. The old man sitting down and playing guitar is large to
show that he is the subject of the painting. The window is made smaller to
show that the old man is in front of it.

Part 2 - Analysis
After observing the Old Guitarist painting, I connected my research results with each other and
analyzed how it affected me, how it might affect other viewers and possible meanings behind
the presentation of this painting. Below is my analysis, with the painting on each page to
enable easier referencing.

Interdependence of the painting’s elements and its effect on the viewer

1. Space, element, subject and composition

= I would say that in terms of space, element, subject-of-painting and composition,
this artwork is absolutely flawless. It may have some flaws like it was revealed that there
were two to three sketches or unfinished paintings underneath the painting. But other
than that, the artwork is amazing and I love the deep message of the painting. The old
man is extremely thin and has abnormally long fingers. His body seems to have been
deformed by suffering and hunger.

His clothes are torn exposing his shoulder and other parts of the body. Closer
inspection discerns that the bones on his legs are standing out. Looking at the painting
from another angle, the old man’s eyes are closed and his mouth is open. These
features, particularly in The Old Guitarist connote a languid expression of suffering.
Picasso may have seen something in this man.
 Perhaps he saw hope and more than meets the eye in the downtrodden and
poor. It’s very fascinating that both physically and symbolically, the instrument fills the
space around the solitary figure, who seems oblivious to his blindness and poverty as
he plays. At the time the painting was made, literature of the Symbolist movement
included blind characters who possessed powers of inner vision. The thin, skeleton-like
figure of the blind musician also has roots in art from Picasso's native country, Spain.
The old man's elongated limbs and cramped, angular posture recall the figures of the
great 16th-century artist El Greco.

There is not much space in this painting as the main focus takes up most of the
surface. There is a sense that the figure is close up as the image is cropped tightly and
somewhat frontal. The guitarist’s head is the focal point on the top left-hand side of the
canvas. The old man’s torso is angular which is somehow accentuated by the grim lines
under his face.

2. Texture, line, color, and style

= The texture in this painting is difficult to explain. It doesn’t have a texture that you
would experience in everyday life. If I were able to reach into the painting and touch the
man and hisguitar I imagine it feeling coarse like sand paper yet smooth in certain
places. The lines seen in this painting are mostly bent other than the dark, straight line
seen under his armpit. The lines are all used to outline his body and guitar as well as
the window behind him.

The lack of different lines goes with the simplicity of the composition. The Old
Guitarist, 1903 is painted with the typical monochromatic blue palette, with the notable
exception of the guitar, which is rendered in a warmer, brown color. Picasso used dark
blue hues for The Old Guitarist, giving the piece an added sense of melancholy. The
color scheme is almost monochromatic, creating a flat, two-dimensional form. This gives
the guitarist a sense of timelessness, as it is impossible to decipher a time period or
even a place that he inhabits.

How the painting made me feel and think

In a few simple words, this painting felt sorrow and grief pure of sadness. The way
the body is oriented around his guitar evokes a figure in desperate isolation, finding
solace only through Picasso’s art and the man looks close to death. The coloring of the
brown guitar, the object signifies not only the subject’s sustenance but their symbol of
hope. The old man’s misery is amplified by the formal decisions made by the artist.
Because of the pictorial boundaries that encase him, the guitarist’s relief from his
cramped posture seems spatially impossible.

His captive condition prevents him from stretching his legs or lifting his head,
which compounds his grief. But this painting is more than just another picture of the
poor. Much of the critique about the tradition of European painters painting the poor
dissipates in the face of the fact that Picasso had himself been having financial troubles
when he made The Old Guitarist Picasso was at a point in his career where he had no
real patrons or collectors in France or Spain.

Conclusion
I love analyzing this painting and talking about it more, I’m not an expert so all of my
opinion is based on my personal perspective and informally. This is a beautiful and sad
masterpiece painting, it has a deep message and how the color implements the message
is really nice to see. The Old Guitarist painting symbolizes the hardship that many in
the lower class faced. As the blind guitarist holds on to his guitar, it shows the very
small ounce of hope and dignity he has left. This is one of my favorite paintings from
Picasso’s blue period and probably one of the deepest paintings as well.

Part 3 - Interpretation
Introduction of interpretation
In this part of the image analysis I will cross-check what I’ve written in my analysis with
the facts, including what this painting is actually about, its theme, cultural context and a
bit about Pablo Picasso, the painter behind The Old Guitarist.
Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso is considered to be one of the most famous painters in the twentieth
century. He was born in Malaga, Spain on October 20, 1881. In addition to painting,
Picasso was also a printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright. He
spent most of his adult life in France. He comes from his family his life is full of creativity.
His parents are Jose Ruiz Blasco and Maria Picasso Lopez. Picasso's talent was
inherited by his father, who was a painter and art teacher. Picasso showed a passion
and a skill for drawing from an early age.

Speaking of names, Picasso has a very long full name, Pablo Diego Jose
Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santisima
Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruiz y Picasso. The name was given to honor a number of
his family's relatives and saints. Picasso remains renowned for endlessly reinventing
himself, switching between styles so radically different that his life's work seems to be
the product of five or six great artists rather than just one. Of his penchant for style
diversity, Picasso insisted that his varied work was not indicative of radical shifts
throughout his career, but, rather, of his dedication to objectively evaluating for each
piece the form and technique best suited to achieve his desired effect.
Cultural Context And Theme
The sad, melancholic state was used by design. It was intended to haunt
onlookers in a way that would make them question why the working class and
high-class individuals continued to prosper while those that needed the most help
continue to languish in poverty. As such, the Old Guitarist was painted to not only
represent Picasso's criticism of society, but it was also created as a metaphor for human
existence.

A busker, or as they are more

commonly known–street performers–entertain crowds with their musical, unusual and
comedic acts for tips in public areas. Busking has a long history that dates back to the
Medieval ages. Busking is not illegal but you should ensure you are: not making too
much noise. not blocking public highways (footpaths, pavements, open pedestrian
areas) not displaying notices asking for payment. The old guitarist depicts an elderly
musician, a haggard man with threadbare clothing, who is hunched over his guitar while
playing in the streets of Barcelona, Spain.

The piece encompasses Picasso's fascination with the societal outcasts he saw
when traveling through Spain. The painting featured an old man whose skins and bones
were visible. Though clearly weak and feeble, the old man appeared to latch on to his
guitar almost as though he was seeking redemption for his serious state of affairs. The
pitiful state of the old man was depicted by his pale blue skin, his weak and hungry
body, as well as his torn clothes. His sad state was further highlighted by his blindness
and the general atmosphere around him, which was reflected by the sadness of the
guitarist. His environment was also painted to represent the life that lower-class
individuals lived at the time.

The Blue Period is a term used to define the works produced

by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso between 1901 and 1904 when he painted essentially
monochromatic paintings in shades of blue and blue-green, only occasionally warmed
by other colors. When Picasso’s Blue Period commenced in 1901 Picasso was just 19
years old. At the time, Picasso had associated himself closely with a group of radical
writers, anarchists and artists. Among them was a close friend and Spanish poet, known
as Carles Casagemas. Although brilliant in his own right, Carles Casagemas committed
suicide by shooting himself in the middle of a dinner party that year due to an incident
with his lover. Picasso’s blue period was heralded as a turning point in his career,
demonstrating his capability of capturing raw emotion and preserving it on canvas.
Singulart examines the origins of Picasso’s blue period, as well as the secrets that have
been revealed in The Old Guitarist since its creation. The Old Guitarist is one of the
most haunting pieces created during Pablo Picasso’s blue period.

Conclusion
The Old Guitarist was painted in 1903, just after the suicide death of Picasso's
close friend, Casagemas. During this time, the artist was sympathetic to the plight of
the downtrodden and painted many canvases depicting the miseries of the poor, the
ill, and those cast out of society. The Old Guitarist was one of the pieces inspired by
Picasso's travels to Spain. The painting shows a frail man cradling a guitar, with his
head bowed and eyes closed. People that sings on the street are called busker, most
of them don’t have a stable income and has trouble surviving. The Old Guitarist is one
of the most haunting pieces created during Pablo Picasso's blue period.

In the year 1900 Picasso was only 19 years old when he arrived in Paris. Living
in precarious conditions, he was soon overwhelmed by misery and mourning. From
this great suffering was born Picasso's Blue Period, during which he would paint
monochromatic paintings.

Work Cited
https://blog.artsper.com/en/a-closer-look/picassos-blue-period/

https://blog.singulart.com/en/2019/10/29/pablo-picassos-blue-period-and-the-old-guitarist/

https://publicdelivery.org/pablo-picasso-the-old-guitarist/#Introduction

https://artincontext.org/the-old-guitarist-picasso/

https://www.academia.edu/35347628/Title_The_Old_Guitarist

https://www.pablopicasso.org/old-guitarist.jsp

https://brookeannmason.com/2018/10/17/formal-analysis-picassos-the-old-guitarist/

https://artincontext.org/the-old-guitarist-picasso/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Guitarist

https://www.myenglishpages.com/english/reading-pablo-picasso.php#:~:text=Pablo%20Picasso
%20is%20considered%20to,his%20adult%20life%20in%20France.

https://internasional.kompas.com/read/2018/10/25/16401481/biografi-tokoh-dunia-pablo-pica
sso-pelukis-revolusioner?page=all
https://study.com/learn/lesson/the-old-guitarist-picasso-artwork-analysis-cubism.html

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/behind-the-art-the-old-guitarist-hau
nting-pieces-pablo-picassos-blue-period-8101369/