Pablo Picasso's Blue Period

Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period refers to the many paintings in which the color blue dominated his work. Most paintings were created between 1901 and 1904. The blue period contributes to the transition of Picasso’s style from classicism to abstract art. In his early twenty’s he began to tint his paintings a pale blue color, which also had a certain sadness to them. For three years he paints like this, as if he was viewing the world through a cold blue lens, but why? What is the reason for painting with so much blue?

Was it because society was depressed after the war, or was it something personal in his own life?

Well, most people know that society after World War I had to endure many disasters. Not disasters such as an earthquake or a hurricane, but severe stock market collapse and economic problems. This harsh time period became known as the Great Depression. During the decade of the 1930’s, many people lived in poverty. They were unable find job’s, and therefore could not earn money needed for food, water, and shelter. At the same time Picasso started painting in blue, society began to tremble and cave in on itself.

But was this why he painted the sullen works of art? No, because Pablo Picasso was also struggling, personally, during the great depression.

When Picasso moved to Paris in 1900, he had the company of his good friend Carlos Casagemas, who he had known for about a year. His days in Paris were characterized by poverty, which would have contributed to the melancholy of his blue paintings. Many people who saw the paintings (and who could have been potential buyers) often saw the sadness and would shy away from them. Due to the leading depression from the war, many people would not buy his paintings. This lead to poverty in his own life. And as if things couldn’t get any worse, his very close friend Casagemas ends up committing suicide in 1901, because of a broken heart after losing the one he loved. Most days after the tragic event in Paris were spent visiting the galleries of Louvre. He couldn’t afford comfortable living arrangements, so the museum’s shelter from the cold, damp weather symbolized his sad images in which he painted. The Blue Room (1901) was one of his first works of art painted during the blue period. It represents his tiny shared room. He also painted Evocation or The Burial of Casagemas after the suicide of his dear friend. The paintings haunted him for months.

Life for Picasso was basically defined by his art. He first saw everything as a picture in which all his emotions could later be discovered. When you look at the paintings from the blue period you can almost feel what he was feeling at the time. The blue tint to all of his paintings adds a very unhappy mood. So even though society was going through a tough time, Picasso painted for himself. And he, himself, felt poverty, hunger, and lack of emotion, just like the rest of the world.