Collection Online as of February 5, 2023

(Spanish, 1881–1973)

Oil on canvas

Framed: 239 x 170 x 10 cm (94 1/8 x 66 15/16 x 3 15/16 in.); Unframed: 196.5 x 129.2 cm (77 3/8 x 50 7/8 in.)

Gift of the Hanna Fund 1945.24

Location

223 20th Century Avant-Garde

Fun Fact

Picasso began drawing as a child and studying at an art school at age eleven. He later remarked that "art is a lie that makes us realize the truth."

Description

In 1901, depressed over the suicide of a close friend, Picasso launched into the melancholic paintings of his Blue period (1901–4). Only 21 years old and desperately poor, he restricted his palette to cold colors suggestive of night, mystery, dreams, and death. His obsession with themes of human misery and social alienation reached its climax with this painting. The subject has been interpreted variously as an allegory of sacred and profane love, a symbolic representation of the cycle of life, and a working-class couple facing the hazards of real life.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Signed upper left: "Picasso"

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973), the most prolific and influential artist of the 20th century, shifted the emphasis of art from its traditional concern with beauty toward radical innovation. The son of an art teacher, Picasso demonstrated remarkable talents as a child and entered the royal art academy in Madrid at age sixteen. Less than a year later, he abandoned his studies and soon joined several avant-garde artist and anarchist groups in Barcelona and Paris. After passing through a succession of stylistic periods, most notably the Blue (1901-1904) and Rose (1904-1906) Periods, he collaborated with Georges Braque (1882-1963) in 1908 to invent Cubism, a revolutionary method of restructuring pictorial space. Picasso remained active until his death in 1973. Although his art still appears radical, many of his works are over one hundred years old. Cubism, perhaps the most important development in 20th-century art, was invented around 1908 by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Georges Braque (1882-1963). The most revolutionary aspect of the style was not its obvious emphasis on geometric form; rather, it was the introduction of a radically new approach to configuring pictorial space. Since the Renaissance, artists had used various methods to create the illusion of distant space receding behind the canvas surface. The Cubists rejected that idea and collapsed space by compressing foreground, middle ground, and background into a continuous web of overlapping, intersecting planes. During the 1910s, other painters and sculptors embraced or adapted Cubism to their own ends. This revolutionary approach inspired a host of related movements and continues to influence the visual language of artists, architects, and designers throughout the world.

Provenance

1904

Sebastià Junyent [1865-1908], Barcelona, Spain (acquired from Picasso along with The Old Jews in 1904 for 500 pesetas)

(Ambroise Vollard, Paris, France)

1926

(Justin K. Thannhauser [1892-1976], Munich/Berlin/Lucerne, acquired by 1926)

1931

(Reid & Lefevre, London, United Kingdom, by 1931, shared with Thannhauser)

1932

(Etienne Bignou, Paris,France, by 1932, shared with Thannhauser and Reid & Lefevre)

1937

Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, 1937

1944

(Theodore Schempp [1904-1988], New York, NY,1944)

1944-1945

(Jacques Seligmann and Company, New York, NY,1944)

1945

(Jacques Seligmann and Company, New York, NY, 1945 sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

1945-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Schürer, Oskar. "Picassos Klassizismus," in Die Kunst für Alle, 27 (Munich, April 1926). Reproduced: p. 204.

The Arts, 9. no. 2 (New York, February 1927. Reproduced frontispiece, p. 60 in bound edition.

Erste Sonderausstellung in Berlin. Berlin: Galerien Thannhauser, 1927. Reproduced: p. 117.

Zervos, Christian. "Picasso: Oeuvres inédites anciennes." Cahiers d'art, 3 (1928). Reproduced: p. 109.

Exposition Picasso. Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1932. Reproduced: no. 17.

Daly, D. "La Vie by Picasso." Bulletin of the Rhode Island School of Design, 26 (January 1938). Reproduced: p. 3.

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., Picasso: Forty Years of His Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1939. Reproduced: cat. no. 19.

Paintings in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1945. Reproduced: p. [6] archive.org

Barr, Alfred H., Jr., Picasso: Fifty Years of His Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1946.

Picasso "L'atelier:" Paintings of 1956. Lucerne: Galerie Rosengart, 1957. Reproduced: p. 91, no. 25

The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and reproduced: cat. no. 521 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 196 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 195 archive.org

Penrose, Roland, John Golding, and Daniel Henry Kahnweiler. Picasso, 1881-1973. London: Elek, 1973.

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 241 archive.org

Kitaj, R. B., and Timothy Hyman. "A Return to London." Kitaj Paintings, Drawings, Pastels. John Ashebury, Joe Shannon, Jane Livingston, 41. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1983. Mentioned: p. 41

Robinson, William H. "Puvis De Chavannes's Summer and the Symbolist Avant-Garde." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 1 (1991): 2-27. Mentioned: p. 16 www.jstor.org

Boggs, Jean Sutherland, Brigitte Léal, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. Picasso and Things: The Still Lifes of Picasso. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992. Reproduced: P. 344

Daix, Pierre. Picasso: Life and Art. New York: Icon Editions, 1993.

Daix, Pierre. Dictionnaire Picasso. Paris: R. Laffont, 1995. Reproduced: p. 628-629, pl. 1

Asahi Shinbunsha. Pikaso: 20-seiki no kyoshōo. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha, 1995. Reproduced: fig. 8

Chipp, Herschel, Alan Wofsy, and Fernand Mourlot. Picasso's paintings, watercolors, drawings and sculpture: a comprehensive illustrated catalogue, 1885-1973. San Francisco: Alan Wofsy Fine Arts, 1995. Reproduced: p. 24, fig. 1903-071

McCully, Marilyn and Natasha Staller. Picasso: the Early Years, 1892-1906. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 1997. Reproduced: p. 6, 190

Fukaya, Katsunori. Pikaso ten: kaikan 10-shūnen kinen (Pablo Picasso: 10th anniversary). Japan: Chūnichi Shinbunsha, 1998. Reproduced: p. 19, no. 11

Spieler, Reinhard and Hans Belting. Max Beckmann: Bildwelt und Weltbild in den Triptychen. Cologne: DuMont, 1998. Reproduced: p. 93, no. 15

Arnason, H. Harvard and Marla Prather. History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 1998. Reproduced: p. 165, pl. 87

Warncke, Carsten-Peter, Ingo F. Walther, and Michael Hulse. Pablo Picasso: 1881-1973. Cologne: Taschen, 1998. Reproduced: p. 39

Kosinski, Dorothy M. The Artist and the Camera: Degas to Picasso. Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1999. Reproduced: p. 300, fig. 146

Richardson, John, and Marilyn McCully. A Life of Picasso. New York: Random House, 1991. I:269-279.

Hunter, Sam, John M. Jacobus, and Daniel Wheeler. Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 2000 Reproduced: p. 134, no. 222

Picasso: Museo Nacional de Colombia: mayo 13-agosto 11, Bogotá, 2000. Bogotá, Colombia: Museo Nacional de Colombia, 2000. Reproduced: p. 139

Léal, Brigitte, Christine Piot, and Marie-Laure Bernadac. The Ultimate Picasso. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, 2000. Reproduced: p. 69, no. 133

Cox, Neil. Cubism. London: Phaidon, 2000. Mentioned: p. 34-35, reproduced: fig. 15

FitzGerald, Michael C., and William H. Robinson. Picasso: The Artist's Studio. Hartford: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and Yale University Press, 2001. Mentioned: p. 98-99; p. 19, 22, 24, 63-87; Reproduced pp. 62, 98

Clair, Jean. Picasso Érotique. Munich: Prestel, 2001. Reproduced: p. 91, fig. 5

Tōkyō Shōkō Kaigisho. Karā kōdinēshon no kiso: karā kōdinētā kentei shiken 3-kyū kōshiki tekisuto (Introduction to color coordination). Tokyo: Tōkyō Shōkō Kaigisho, 2001 Reproduced: p. 28

May, Sally Ruth, Jane Takac, and Barbara J. Bradley. Knockouts: A Pocket Guide. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2001. Mentioned: p. 54-55; Reproduced: p. 54

Lemoine, Serge. From Puvis De Chavannes to Matisse and Picasso: Toward Modern Art. Milan: Bompiani, 2002. Reproduced: p. 41, fig. 19

Andersen, Wayne V. Picasso's Brothel: Les Demoiselles D'Avignon. New York, NY: Other Press, 2002 Reproduced: p. 192, fig. 19

Ocaña, María Teresa. Picasso joven. La Coruña: Fundación Pedro Barrié de la Maza, Conde de Fenosa, 2002. Reproduced: p. 72

Sekai bijutsukan no tabi. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2002. Reproduced: p. 310

Meyer, Richard. Representing the Passions: Histories, Bodies, Visions. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2003. Reproduced: p. 236, fig. 10

Becht-Jördens, Gereon and Peter Matthias Wehmeier. Picasso und die christliche Ikonographie: Mutterbeziehung und künstlerische Position. Berlin: Reimer, 2003. Reproduced: fig. 1

Senzoku, Nobuyuki. Seiyō kaiga meisaku hyakuissen. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2003. Reproduced: p. 182, fig.100

Picasso in Istanbul. Istanbul, Turkey: Sabanci University, Sakip Sabanci Museum, 2005. Reproduced: p. 19, fig. 2

Lara Elizondo, Lupina. Referencias de Picasso en México: ocho pintores (1900-1950): Angel Zárraga, Diego Rivera, Carlos Mérida, Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, Alfonso Michel, Rufino Tamayo, Francisco Gutiérrez, Federico Cantú. México, DF: Qualitas Compañía de Seguros, 2005. Reproduced: p. 53

Berggruen, Olivier and Max Hollein. Picasso und das Theater. Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2006. Reproduced: p. 28, fig. 1

Adams, Laurie. The Making and Meaning of Art. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Reproduced: p. 147, fig. 8.2

Robinson, William H., Jordi Falgàs, and Carmen Belen Lord. Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Yale University Press, 2006. Mentioned: p. 135; Reproduced p. 134

Calvo Serraller, Francisco. Picasso: tradición y vanguardia: guía antológica de la exposición, Madrid: Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, 2006. Mentioned: p. 8-9; Reproduced: p. 9

Robinson, William H., Laurence Channing, Barbara J. Bradley, and Margaret Burgess. Monet to Dalí: Impressionist and Modern Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007.

Seki, Naoko. Pikaso. Tokyo, Japan: Shōgakukan, 2006. Reproduced: p. 51

Hall, James. The Sinister Side: How Left-Right Symbolism Shaped Western Art. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2008. Reproduced: p. 333, fig.37

Duchting, Hajo. Pablo Picasso. London: Prestel, 2008. Reproduced: p. 6

Yūki, Masako. Pikaso egakareta koi: yattsu no koigokoro de yomitoku pikaso no miryoku. Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2008. Reproduced: p. 21

Tinterow, Gary, Susan Alyson Stein, Magdalena Dabrowski, et al. Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. Reproduced: p. 63, fig. 22.4

Arnason, H. Harvard and Elizabeth Mansfield. History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Photography. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2010. Reproduced: p. 160, no. 8.2

Giedion, Sigfried, Gotthard Jedlicka, and Piet Meyer. Pablo Picasso in Zürich--1932. Bern, Switzerland: Meyer, 2010. Reproduced: p. 80, Abb.15

Cox, Neil. The Picasso Book. London: Tate Publishing, 2010. Reproduced: p. 10, fig. 2; Mentioned: p. 273-274

Galassi, Susan Grace and Marilyn McCully. Picasso's Drawings, 1890-1921: Reinventing Tradition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. Reproduced: p. 100, fig. 51

Robinson, William H. Picasso and the Mysteries of Life: La Vie. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Reproduced: p. 31

Zuffi, Stefano. Colour in Art. Antwerpen, Belgium: Ludion, 2012. Reproduced: p. 139

Treasures of the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: Scala Books, 2012. Reproduced: p. 292-293

Ramon, Artur. Nada es bello sin el azar: quince episodios sobre pintura. Barcelona: Elba, 2012. Reproduced: p. 137, fig. 44

Vallès, Eduard and Isabel Cendoya. Yo Picasso: self-portraits. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Institut de Cultura: Museu Picasso, 2013. Reproduced: p. 80, fig. 6, 7

Andral, Jean-Louis, Marilyn McCully, Michael Raeburn, et al. Picasso dans la collection Nahmad. Paris: Éditions Hazan, 2013. Reproduced: p. 273-274, fig. 4; Mentioned: p. 419

Bozal Fernández, Valeriano. Historia de la pintura y la escultura del siglo XX en España. Madrid: Machado Grupo de Distribucion, 2013. Reproduced: p. 45

The Art Newspaper 23, no. 252 (December 2013). Reproduced: p. 32

Gual, Malén, Reyes Jiménez, and William H. Robinson. Journey Through the Blue: La Vie. Barcelona: Museu Picasso, 2013. p. 103, cat. no. 20

Castaño, Antonia, Maria Teresa Ocaña, Neil Cox, Brigitte Léal, Valeriano Bozal Fernández, Christopher Green. Picasso en el taller. Madrid: Fundación MAPFRE, Instituto de Cultura, 2014. Reproduced: p. 15, fig. 3

Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 294-295

Pratesi, Ludovico. "Le Sfide del Grande Transfiguratore." Art e dossier, no. 316 (December 2014). Mentioned: p. 30-35; Reproduced: p. 31

"Avec le Bleu une Histoire qui Dure." Beaux arts magazine, no. 368 (Fevrier 2015). Mentioned: p. 52-53; Reproduced: p. 52

Vallès, Eduard. Picasso: obra catalana. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2015. Reproduced: p. 236-237

Roglán, Mark A. Spanish Art in America. Madrid: Ediciones El Viso 2016. Reproduced: p. 82

Müller, Markus. "The Many Metamorphoses of the Minotaur." In Pablo Picasso. Munich: Hirmer, 2016. Reproduced: p. 14, fig. 4

Jones, Caroline A. The Global Work of Art: World's Fairs, Biennials, and the Aesthetics of Experience. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 58-59, fig. 2.8

Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum Masters: 2016-17 Companion Guide. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2016. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 46-47

Kisters, Sandra. The Lure of the Biographical: On the (Self-)Representation of Modern Artists. Amsterdam: Valiz, 2017. Reproduced: p. 57, n.171

Koldehoff, Stefan. "Marketing Modernism: The Thannhauser Gallery and Its Clients." Marketing Van Gogh. Stefan Koldehoff, and Chris Stolwijk, eds., 56-81. Brussels: Mercatorfonds; Amsterdam: Van Gogh Museum, 2017. Reproduced: p. 61, fig. 43

Jiménez-Blanco, María Dolores. Antes, Desde y Después del Cubismo: Picasso, Gris, Blanchard, Gargallo y González, y Vuelta a Picasso. Boadilla del Monte (Madrid): Machado Libros, 2017. Reproduced: p. 97, fig. 1

Saragoza, Florence, and Pablo Picasso. Picasso et la maternité. 2017. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 22-23

Rynck, Patrick de and Jon Thompson. Understanding Painting: From Giotto to Warhol. New York: Ludion, distributed by Abrams, 2018. Reproduced: p. 237

Tasseau, Verane, and Jean-Louis Andral. Pablo Picasso en 15 questions. [Vanves] : Hazan, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 28-31

Moore, John L., Esther Jun, Clodagh Keogh, William H. Robinson, Danni Shen, Enid Shomer, and Reto Thüring. Demise: Rina Banerjee, Esperanza Cortés, Jae Rhim Lee, Brian Maguire, Paolo Pelosini, Levent Tuncer. 2018, 6. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 4-6.

Bernardi, Claire, Stephanie Molins, and Émilia Philippot. Picasso: Bleu et Rose. Vanves: Hazan: M'O, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 20-21

Faerna, José María. Picasso. Barcelona: Polígrafa, 2018. Reproduced: P. 25

Lloyd, Christopher. Picasso and the Art of Drawing. London: Modern Art Press, 2018. Reproduced: p. 44, fig. 25

Betard, D. "Picasso en bleu, en rose et en chefs-d'oeuvre," Beaux arts magazine, 411 (Sept. 2018). Mentioned: p. 78-86; Reproduced: p. 81

Toscano, F. "Becoming Picasso." Modern Painters (Sept. 2018). Mentioned: p. 104-110; Reproduced: p. 107

De Micci, L. "L'alba del Genio e Blu e Rosa." Il giornale dell'arte 36, no. 389 (Sept. 2018). Mentioned: p. 39-40

Toscano, Frank. "Becoming Picasso: A major exhibition at the Musee d'Orsay looks at six formative years early last century, now known as his Blue and Rose periods." Modern painters : a quarterly journal of the fine arts 30, no. 8 (September 2018): 105-110 Mentioned; p. 107

Le Bon, Laurent, Claire Bernardi, Stephanie Molins, et al. Picasso, Bleu et Rose. Vanves: Hazan, 2018. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 180-182

Bouvier, Raphaël, ed. Picasso: The Blue and Rose Periods. Riehen/Basel: Fondation Beyeler, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 118-119; 122-123

Picasso, Pablo. Bijiasuo: yi wei tian cai de dan sheng = Picasso: Birth of a Genius. 北京市: 文化藝術出版社, 2019. Reproduced: P. 219, 225

Michael, Cora. "Gauguin in the the Buckeye and Hoosier States: Portrait of Teuraheimata and its Midwestern Collectors." In Paul Gauguin: Teuraheimata a Potoru, a Rediscovery, 11-19. New York: Jill Newhouse Gallery; [Akron, Ohio]: Thomas French Fine Art, 2019. Mentioned: P. 14

Bouvier, Raphaël. Le Jeune Picasso: Périodes Bleue et Rose. Riehen/Bâle, Suisse : Fondation Beyler ; Berlin : Hatje Cantz, 2019. Reproduced: P. 22, 27

Berggruen, Olivier. "Painting as Drama: Picasso's Late Paintings." In Picasso: The Late Work: from the Collection of Jacqueline Picasso. Ortrud Westheider, and Michael Philipp, eds. Munich: Prestel, 2019. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 29-31

Ormiston, Rosalind. Picasso. Munich; London; New York: Prestel, 2020. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 50-51

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. 75, cat. no. 48

Arn, Jackson. "From God to 10,000 hours." Art in America 110. no.5(June/July 2022): 42-47 reproduction & mentioned p.46

Exhibition history

In Memoriam: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr.. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 4-April 7, 1958).

Picasso. Tate Britain, London (July 5-September 18, 1960).

Picasso and the Theatre. Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, France (organizer) (June 22-September 15, 1965).

Hommage a Pablo Picasso, Peintures. Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 75008 Paris, France (November 20, 1966-February 12, 1967).

Pablo Picasso: A Retrospective. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (organizer) (May 22-September 16, 1980).

Pablo Picasso. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan (organizer) (co-organizer) (April 2-May 29, 1983); Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan (co-organizer) (June 10-July 24, 1983).

Pablo Picasso: Fruhwerk und Blaue Periode (Pablo Picasso: Early Work and the Blue Period). Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland (organizer) (December 6, 1984-February 17, 1985).

Picasso: The Early Years, 1892-1906. National Gallery of Art (organizer) (March 30-July 27, 1997); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (September 10, 1997-January 4, 1998).

Picasso: The Artist's Studio. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (June 7-September 23, 2001); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 28, 2001-January 6, 2002).

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada (June 9-September 16, 2007); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 2007-January 13, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 15-June 1, 2008); Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT (June 22-September 21, 2008); The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (October 12, 2008-January 18, 2009).

Picasso: Tradición y Vanguardia. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain (organizer) (June 5-September 17, 2006).

Barcelona & Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí (1868-1939). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 15, 2006-January 7, 2007); The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (co-organizer) (March 4-June 3, 2007).

Picasso and the Mysteries of Life: La Vie. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 12, 2012-April 21, 2013); Museu Picasso, Barcelona, Spain (October 10, 2013-January 19, 2014).

Lend-Back: Painting the Modern Garden. Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (organizer) (September 11-December 7, 2015).

Picasso: Blue and Rose. Musée d'Orsay, 75343 Paris, France (organizer) (September 18, 2018-January 6, 2019); Fondation Beyeler, CH-4125 Riehen/Basel, Switzerland (February 3-June 16, 2019).