The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Print in black ink of two people with light skin tones and elongated bodies leaning their elbows on a table spread with a tablecloth. The person on our right rests their chin on the back of their hand and looks in our direction. The person on our left drapes one arm over the other's shoulder, looking to their right. On the creased tablecloth sit a bottle, two glasses, and bread next to an empty plate.

The Frugal Meal

September 1904, printed 1913

Pablo Picasso

(Spanish, 1881–1973)
printer

Louis Fort

(French, active 1800s–1900s)
publisher

Ambroise Vollard

(French, 1867–1939)
Spain, 20th century
etching
Image: 45.5 x 37 cm (17 15/16 x 14 9/16 in.); Plate: 46.3 x 37.6 cm (18 1/4 x 14 13/16 in.); Sheet: 63 x 49.8 cm (24 13/16 x 19 5/8 in.)
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1929.888
Catalogue raisonné: Bloch 1; Palau i Fabre 994; Geiser/Baer I.18.2
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

To create this print, Pablo Picasso recycled a zinc plate previously used by a friend.

Description

In this early print, Pablo Picasso depicted a couple—possibly two performers—sitting before a meager meal. Although the woman gazes forward directly, her male companion's unfocused stare suggests his blindness. This subject was one that Picasso explored during his Blue Period (1901–4), a stage of his career when he used a predominantly cool palette to depict figures marginalized by society.
  • ?-1929
    (C.W. Kraushaar Art Galleries, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1929-
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Planas, Claustre Raffart. "Early Works and the Blue Period." In Picasso and Paper. William H. Robinson, et al., 62-79. London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2020. Reproduced: P. 77, cat. no. 50
  • Picasso and Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (December 8, 2024-March 23, 2025).
    The Art of Printmaking. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 17, 1959-January 2, 1960).
  • {{cite web|title=The Frugal Meal|url=false|author=Pablo Picasso, Louis Fort, Ambroise Vollard|year=September 1904, printed 1913|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.888